Underground Resistance X
by simba317
Summary: SIGN THE ROMY PETITION...LINK IN MY BIO! A band of mutants in an agency to rebel against the forces which threatens their existence on the planet as mutants are labeled the bane of humanity. Espionage lifestyle of would be XMen. AU. Romy, with Kiotr, John
1. Prologue: Missing Pieces

**NOTE:** As of October, 27th, 2005, I have restructured this piece of fiction to make more sense. Part I will deal with the past and Part II will deal with everything that is currently happening in their timeline at the time of the Prologue. Part I, Chapter One is called How the World Falls Apart, Part I, Chapter Two is called Dreams of Escapism and Part I, Chapter Three is called Run for Your Life.

**Disclaimer: **Let's see now, uh, never owned X-Men Evolution and never will.

**Author's Notes:** Hey guys, I know you're probably wondering where my other fic is, but don't worry, the next chapter is nearly done and I'm also finishing a one-shot with Romy. In the mean time, this is basically just a fic that sorta just flowed out after an idea for one I gave to ForbiddenScars on her 'The Midnight Air' audience participation fic. She liked my idea and wrote about it…I read it, and it gave me more ideas for my original plot idea that ran through my head and just had to come out. It'll have a different feel though…and it will be a Romy, eventually. So here's a totally random fic, that'll have gain me even more problems with updating…sigh…but anyway, here's Underground Resistance X.

**PROLOGUE: MISSING PIECES

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**

She was tall, blonde and voluptuous, a woman that any man would want. Except to me, it was all wrong. It was imperfect and lacked all the perfections of the flawed reality of truths. Her eyes were a combination of blue and green, and her features were beautiful, but not matching to the rest of her. She had full lips, a defined nose that was soft and feminine, yet cutting, a strong chin and jaw and a tanned complexion. Her dress was a mysterious deep royal ocean blue and clung to her curves perfectly with a full skirt and had a V-neck line that formed into a halter dress that showed off a hint of cleavage and a slit up one side that stopped slightly above her knee where the fabric tapered slightly and wove gracefully down her long legs to her feet and spread out on the floor.

She was sipping a glass of champagne at an empty table whose inhabitants had all gone to drink, dance or mingle in the extravagant party. She looked to be waiting for something, something that only I knew. The hall was gargantuan carved from marble, highly ornate and decorative. It boasted an imposing grand staircase, rich oriental carpets, marble floor, fountains, high windows, ornate furniture to the pristine dining tables, shining crystal chandeliers, stunning statues and other art work and the best food on the planet, a true rich man's affair with all the movers and shakers.

I approached her and touched her soft bare shoulder slightly.

"Care to dance, beautiful?" I ask with a smirk, offering her my hand.

She looks up to me; I can tell that she can see all that is wrong about my appearance. My eyes that are a dark blue with flecks that seem a stony silver, and dirty blonde hair don't fool her, just like she doesn't fool me, but everyone else believes it to be true. But truth can be spun in a million different ways and varies to opinion. I can sense that she knew I was what any woman could ever want, that I was that perfect handsome match to her beauty. I wore a black suit that was of the deepest midnight black, with the long loose pants to match the jacket and vest with a navy shirt and stone silver tie.

She then smiles at me and I notice the spectacular sapphire and diamond necklace she's wearing around her neck that sported a healthy glow to it, with matching chandelier earrings and a platinum tennis bracelet with sapphires embedded into the various charms. To me those sapphires didn't do her justice the way that another would. Her long blonde hair cascades down her bare back from the cut of the dress in loose curls. To anyone else she looks a goddess, but to me, it's not right.

"Of course," she says in almost a purr as she clutches my hand with hers and looks me up and down, "how could I refuse someone like you?" I support her weight with my hand and she takes a step forward, revealing to me her strappy black heels with satin ribbons that wrapped around her ankles to keep them on, allowing her to stand up and follow my lead to the dance floor a little ways away.

I placed my hand on her waist, and she placed her hand on my shoulder, our hands still clasped together perfectly, and then effortlessly, we began to dance gliding across the floor amongst the other couples. We were both dying to put all our hearts into this dance, that I could ascertain, but we could never allow ourselves to be noticed, so it was modest yet graceful, but had an ethereal quality to it. Soon we both began to relax slightly and we came closer to each other, with her resting her head on my shoulder and I resting my head on top of her hair, observing our surroundings as I knew she was even though she seemed docile and unaware to others.

"How are you this night, Liz?" I ask, listening to the way the name seems to dampen her slightly.

"Same as always, Brock," she says, sounding bored as she rolls her eyes, making me laugh slightly, as we continue to dance effortlessly, "You know, same boring, gossiping people, same lame, extravagant parties."

"How true, although there was that one time in London when Pettigrew fell off his chair, doing toasts, taking a curtain, a full table of food, and several priceless works of arts with him, and that time in Madrid when you kicked and severely injured that man for trying to force himself on you," I said slyly.

"I believe there was also that time in Los Angeles when you got two of London's most prim and proper society girls to make out with each other in front of the disapproving guests, adults, tabloids and cameras and that time in New York when you broke that man's jaw for trying to cheat you out of Poker money," she returned.

"Don't you just love high society?" I say.

"Don't you just love its need to show off its opulence in such a grotesquely obvious fashion of 'I'm so much better than you'?" Liz says to me.

"Don't you just love how it turns normal men into such backstabbing greedy bastards who want nothing more than to run his so-called friends to the ground?" I return.

"Don't you just love how the women are all greedy little whores trying to worm their way into an arm of a wealthy man in hopes of killing them for their money?" Liz continues.

"Don't you just love it all?" I ask smirking.

"Immensely," Liz finishes, smiling up at me with her brilliant ruby lips that seem strange on her, at least it does, to me.

"Hey, Brock," she starts.

"Hmm?"

"Let's get some air, it's getting hot in here," Liz says, looking at me, like she's about to droop over and die.

I smirk and say, "Sure."

We head to the huge dark wooden French doors that lead to a terrace and whose steps lead to a rich garden with marble chairs, exotic flowers and animal shaped shrubs. We walk leisurely onto the terrace in the cool summer air of Paris and take the steps into the ornate garden, wandering a ways in, before stopping at a marble cut chair. I place my jacket around her shoulders as we sit down as she shivers slightly, and she sends me a look of gratitude.

"Y' got in, chere?" I ask, in my regular voice and accent after I make sure that nothing will overhear us.

"Of course, swamp rat," she says, "Who d'ya tahke mah foh? Ah'm no amateur."

She says it in her normal persona and accent, better and more alive than her false one.

"Well, aren't we getting' a tad cranky. Too much time around de boisterous rich folks fer y'," I return as we fall back into our ways of bantering, even on a mission.

"Yah're from a rich family, so ya reallah can't say that, Cajun," she says with an annoyed roll of her eyes.

"Y' sure dat dress o' yours not too…constraining in some areas, dat got y' all fired up?" I say to her. She smacks my arm.

"Ya sure those contacts aren't making ya delusional from pain?" she says.

"I'm a man. I can take de pain," I say sniffing in a mock insulted stance.

"I happen ta remembah that tahme in Moscow, when SOMEBODY got a papah cut and wouldn't stop complaining about it for two freaking days," she says with an insinuating death glare.

"Whatever, river rat, now what've y' got?" I ask.

"Ya know that we're naught done with this, doncha?" she glares at me. I just smirk at her, causing her to roll her eyes in annoyance, similar to the way she's done for the past three years of being my partner.

We're close, we know each others habits and mannerisms, how to read each other. We seem to know everything about each other that way. But in other ways, personal ways, we're closed books. We close ourselves to meaningful human relationships outside of select people. We've been burned. However, in knowing so much about each other, we still don't truly know each other at all. We trust our lives with each other, but there are secrets that we'll keep to our graves and never tell anyone, even each other, in a marriage of minds, where we're supposed to, and it's those that are our weakness. No one knows those yet, no one that would matter, anyway. And it's those secrets that we know, when they come out will test us, hurt us, and ruin us the most.

We're part of the best team of agents in our agency. So secret that few know about it, not even the high ups at the Pentagon know about our agency, we're just that good. We're the best partners, the two best for any job. Our team has been given one name Ferocity. I met her three years ago, in New York. We were a test for each other, a game of cat and mouse that always switched, to test each other's worth. Even in the beginning, it was like we could sense that we were the perfect pair in every way that mattered. We were flawless in fights with each other; we are equals and compliment the other. Although it's like we can infuriate each other to no end, and as always, it circles back from perfection to infuriation. Our arguments have always been this way, we're somewhat friends, but we can go on for hours, with our seemingly pointless bantering and arguments. Our friends have taken to using score cards to keep track of the scalding remarks dealt to each other in our own brand of wit. They think we have an unresolved sexual tension, but the truth is, we're like brother and sister in more ways than one. And here we are again.

"Well, what y' get?" I ask, getting serious.

"Nothang much, but they've got him, Remy, I know that foh sure," she started, "Everything's on this disc. It's highly encrypted, but Ah know it's on there, Kitty'll have no problem with it."

"Right, chere, but he's not who he is anymo'. Y' know dat, right?" I ask.

"Ah know, Rem, Ah just hope we can help him, befoh it's too late. Ah just want him back," she says, near tears. I hold her to me for a few minutes. Out of everyone, it still amazes me that she shows the most emotion to me, even though she can touch whomever she pleases now that she got control.

"We all do, Rogue, we all do. Kurt's gonna have m' ass, if we don't hurry up," I tell her. We're a family, out of all the teams and divisions in the black ops of Underground-X, we're the closest one. They took Logan a few months ago on a full team mission that went wrong. It had been a trap, a set up, for us. The information that we had wanted was false. When we took it, they knew we were there, and it all went wrong. We were two steps from the best escape from capture in history, but they cornered us, knew where we'd be because of their mutant detection devices. We all fought long and hard to get out, but the waves of soldiers were too many, and he made us abort, made us get out and leave him, because he was the only one that was undeniably unable to be broken by any enemy. So he was captured. We didn't know where they put him, or even if he was alive for weeks, but then, two months afterward, we saw him.

It was in Cairo. He was on surveillance camera. We were all overjoyed, we'd found him, our teacher, friend, mentor, leader and father. Only we learned bitterly that it wasn't, they'd changed him, unleashed his beast and drove the man we all knew he was out, leaving the raging animal to take control, the Wolverine. He became ruthless, a killer. The assassin they sent out to kill all that stood in their way. He was bloody and cruel, not the gruff, but kind man who personally recruited each of us all those years ago. Mystique, his friend, secret lover, tried to talk to him, reason with him, but failed, he wasn't Logan in control, it was the Wolverine that had inhabited him and taken control of him all those years ago, after the same people took away his memories and life, it was Raven who broke him out, and coaxed the human side out of him and turned him into the man we looked up to and lead us to our goals.

And this time, to win, the war that had waged so long between us and the Three, we had to take back Logan and finally destroy all of that organization. They were the ones who made us outlaws in our own homes, who took away our rights, who imprisoned us, tortured us, alienated us, and destroyed us, to purify the so-called 'tainted gene pool'. We had to win, for our freedom, for our continued existence and for our lives.

"Ah'm ready ta go now, Remy," she whispered softly. She was the new secretary in the company that the Three owned and operated. This was one of their company parties and the perfect opportunity to get information because of all the random people milling around. She is our mole for now. I am a disguised investor of the company.

So we get up and walk along the path until we enter the building again, back into the characters we play for tonight, until we meet again. I'll have to give the information to them soon, but for now, I stay with her, and make sure she'll be okay, she could be ruthless, but I knew that this was all taking a toll on her, as it was everyone else.

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So what do you think, should I continue, or not, I've got the rest of the characters lined up and their roles, but this fic will only feature a select few mutants from the X-Men, Brotherhood and Acolytes that will be on the team I've dubbed Ferocity. Basically, the dynamic that is the X-Men will be completely changed, and Scott and Jean, I plan on just having as Xavier's right hand as he's running the resistance, but they'll have smaller roles, since I'm focusing on just a few mutants in this tale, primarily Romy. The other characters like the New Recruits will be contacts and middle men, people just in the agency that do the minor things but never got noticed, I think. But the team will consist of Storm, Beast, Wolverine, Mystique, Rouge, Gambit, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Scarlet Witch, Pyro, and Colossus. I'll probably be doing a Kiotr and Johnda as well, as the Romy, and some Kurmanda. 

**UP NEXT: CHAPTER ONE: HOW A WORLD FALLS APART**

**_REVIEW! _**I'll write faster if you do…and shorter chapters, I think will mean faster updates, because long ones make me not want to type out stuff.

simba317


	2. Part I: How the World Falls Apart

**NOTE:** As of October, 27th, 2005, I have restructured this piece of fiction to make more sense. Part I will deal with the past and Part II will deal with everything that is currently happening in their timeline at the time of the Prologue.

**Disclaimer:** This site is called FANFICTION dot net, so of course I don't own X-Men Evolution or any of the characters, Marvel does, this is just my spin of things in an alternate universe.

**Author's Note's:** A whole LOT of you guys totally made me laugh my ass off, with your 'WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU AND YOUR REMY AND ROGUE IN A BROTHER-SISITER MENTALITY?'. And the thing is this, yes, for now they do have a brother-sister type mentality, but there's reason for that, a heavy angsty one, you'll find out chapter three or four, depending on where I get with this chapter, and it doesn't mean that they aren't attracted to each other, if not already in love with each other. Let's just say that something got in the way, and caused them to back off…but that's all I'm saying, for now…I think I really showed that they cared about each other last chapter, and they do. Things will most definitely heat up, I mean she can touch…But don't worry, they will get their act together, and it WILL be a ROMY, because I love Romy, so it shall…eventually. I like to show build up and progression…and WILD FORKS OF ANGST DESTROYING EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH!…Muawahahahahahaha…okay, so no wild forks of angst destroying everything in its path. I can't do evil stuff to Romy, like even in 'The Road to Forever'; I condensed it all into one chapter. It was getting super long, but I just couldn't leave you guys with their relationship in tatters.

My stories will probably not have constant updates for awhile because I have summer school. I am seriously questioning why I'm doing this to myself, I mean who cares if I won't be able to take physics normally? I could do without it.

This fic is probably gonna be darker than anything I've written thus far, due to the fact that they're fighting for a Rebellion. I will have character deaths in it, not any of my major characters, but still some pretty major ones. So you have been warned. This chapter's really sad...I nearly cried writing some bits...Also, it'll be really violent. The spy stuff will come a little later, but I will have it. I mean, it's just great for some Romy innuendos...hehehehehehe...

This chapter will deal with the back story of each of the characters and what makes them want to fight in the rebellion for a better future. It's all very sad and really made me choke up to write this. There may not be much Romy in it, but I'll really try hard to put it in. When I first got inspiration for this fic, it was the idea of Remy and Rogue being spies, the one I gave to ForbiddenScars for 'The Midnight Air', but then while writing that first chapter, it got a more deeper darker sorta feel, in that I gave a reason to why they're spies, they're part of a resistance fighting for the freedom of mutants, so that they can coexist peacefully with normal humans. I soon twisted it into a sort of mutant persecution type thing, that was in another story idea I had where several of the X-Men had been captured by the Weapon X program and forced to work for them, but I strangely like this better. In this chapter, I really think I've given it a dark edge, but I really think that the original idea of espionage will be in it too. As soon as I decided that this would be a sort of rebellion, I realized that this was inspired by one of my favorite book series, called 'Broken Sky' by Chris Wooding, about twins whose father was the leader of a secret rebellion against an oppressive king. It's a story full of twists, and unexpected angst, not to mention some pretty cool action in a totally cool fantasy world.

I'm really sorry about this, but once again, I find my chapter is running a bit long, so I'm gonna cut it in half a bit, maybe into thirds, I do have most of it done, but I'm dividing for better digestion from you guys, because it's gonna be a LOT to take in. It really gives the past and back story to each of the mutants…The upside is that it gives you a taste of how they grew up, and Remy and others make their debut next chapter. Remember, this will showcase Rogue, Remy, Ororo, Hank, Logan, Raven, Kitty, Piotr, Kurt, John and Wanda. So I will address all their pasts and they will show up, as well as some cameos from Xavier, Magneto and a few others.

But anyway, thanks to all you guys, for sending me all those reviews. I was really surprised at the great response that this got and I'd like to thank all of you guys for leaving a message, and I hope you continue to support this story and all my others as well.

**Shout Outs:**

**Ishy: **Thanks once again for another review. I simply love it when you review my fics, because you're just so enthusiastic about it and other random stuff too. It's nice to have a reviewer that always reviews my stuff and gives such sweet feedback. I always just see them as being great spies, I don't know why, but it's one of the situations that just really seem to click for them, that and pirates…I'm glad to have had to make you guess about the couple there at the beginning, it was always my intent to make you think is it them, or is it not them and not clue you in until the end. They will be getting out of the mentality soon…but we'll see. I'm sorry for the lack of bunny on crackness updating…typing stuff out is a bitch, ideas are the easy part. Oh and I absolutely love how you want to shove a rusty shovel down Mystique's throat for the X-Men stuff in you review for 'The Road to Forever,' made me laugh. I read it and was like 'WTF are you doing to them?', in a summary anyway, I'm not willing to support Marvel or buy a comic book…It's uncanny how we have the same views on Sinister, Mystique, Belladonna…

**Maginme: **Thanks for your review, and don't worry, they'll be plenty of Mystique and Logan goodness, especially in this chapter. I agree with what you said about how few really expand on them or do it at all. The fact is that the two of them just seem to have so much chemistry and sexual tension, so I had to do them and I just think that they work well together. They would seem like a clash of personalities, but I think that's what attracts them to each other, a bit like Romy. I've just thought that on Evo that they seemed to have been in a relationship once, but got jilted by each other, hence the bitter feelings and anger, plus it was just that tension that they had. Plus, I just love it when together they're Rogue's parents. I really want to show them interacting. Once of the best fics for a bit of Logan with Mystique, I think is Extermination by Slickboy444, even though it's only hints of it.

**Jade: **Breathe with me, in out, in out. It's okay, don't worry, they'll get together eventually. I did this because I wanted to show some sexual tension, attraction, angst and chemistry with them. That, and OMG the angst. They'll get their act together, I promise, and I think you got some hints of Romy in how he thinks of her as being beautiful, and such, but there will be a reason why they are the way they are…I'm glad you like this fic, I like your enthusiasm and that you're still willing to read on.

**CF:** Thanks for your review. I say Hi to the squirrels back and I hope that they won't use the or else on me…I'm glad to have confuzzled my readers a bit at the beginning. I was dropping a few hints of who it may be. So sad to have taken Wolvie, I know, but it makes for an interesting plot. I say onward to the road of Romy and Johnda as well, so read on a drop a review, please. Oh yeah, Emil has to use his Mad Hacker Skillz ™ for something doesn't he, and what better way than to spy on Rogue and Remy with the gang for their first kiss. I just had to do that in 'The Road to Forever'.

**Numbah 333 all the way 2 hell: **Got one long name there, sweetie. Anyway, thanks for the review. The Kiotr, we shall see, but there shall be some in the next chapter, as this chapter will deal with the back story to this whole shebang, but there will for sure be Kiotr in the next chapter. The thing is, that Kitty, I think is the Valley girl with a brain, so she'll always be more than just the Valley girl in my book, and as for her role, who else is gonna be Rogue's best friend? Of course she'll have an important role and not just for her tech skills her powers are pretty helpful too.

Thanks to: **Kitty-Phantom**, **bored247**, **Thanagarian Angel**, **Dannonspring,** **Realtfarraige**, **GothikStrawberry**, and **Spicy Sweet**: Thanks for your kindness and encouragement. Romy fans unite!

simba317 is proud to present, without further adieu, the next chapter to 'Underground Resistance X'…

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**PART ONE: CHAPTER ONE: HOWTHE WORLD FALLS APART **

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The world has always been faulted, it's true, but no one had ever expected such persecution of one group of people, not after events in the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge, Rwanda, Middle East, South Africa, the American civil rights movement and many more. However, it was not for creed or race, it was purely for blood, for genetics. Mutants, they say, are a impurity in the perfection that is the human race, especially when the genetics of the human make it so superior. It was simple, to be human was to be good and pure and to be mutant was to be evil and filth. They were a marked people from the moment of birth and were never given a chance to prove their worth. 

It was many years ago that the mutant race first gained prominence in society. They were a budding subculture, one small facet of the world community and one that wouldn't really put a significant amount in the world population. They seemed strange phenomena. Sure, they had been around for some time, but in number so few and isolated and powers so frightening, especially in manifestation, it wasn't hard for the fear and paranoia to set in. They began to become targeted as the new scapegoat in society, much like Jews in Nazi Germany. It wasn't fair, for they were in every race of people, every creed, every culture and every country; it was purely because they were born differently, a tainted piece in their blood. The hysteria and bigotry against mutants became so bad that they were forced into hiding to protect their fragile lives.

But that was not all. Governments around the world began to see mutants as a menace. Their powers, they argued were dangerous and unpredictable and all mutants must be contained, controlled and kept away from society for their dangers. They based their ideals off the human riots and bigotry that had turned to violence against mutants and when they defended themselves, it was then that they pulled the trigger to the gun. They could no longer have the tainted genes in the society, nor could they have the dangers and violence that they brought with them. So the already outcasted mutants were marked a stain on existence. It was then that an international agreement was signed and all mutants called to be gathered, imprisoned and ultimately destroyed, or used for purposes of wiping out their own race. It was why the Three were so powerful.

This group of powerful men were given the power to control the mutant problem after the agreement was signed, the International Agreement on the Mutant Race. These men were given the power to control all prisons, camps, laboratories and other facilities pertaining to mutants where they were degraded and captured to be put to work, imprisonment and experimentation. For mutants had been stated as officially being not only a danger to human life, but not human, and therefore not able to continue their existence. They lost their rights, homes, property and what ever else they had to be subjected to cruelty.

It was in this utter terror that two men formed a pact, from here on, they would sit still no longer, they would ban together and set the world right again for future generations so that this discrimination could not happen again. Their names were Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr and these two men would go into years of hiding and build what is now known as the Underground Resistance X. A mysterious organization of rebels bent on freeing mutants imprisoned, gaining information on the plans of the Three and ultimately gaining the right to live free again like any other human on the planet in harmony. They built secret bases all around the world that have never been found by any government, any spy or army. They were just that good. They never got caught for anything and they stalked in the shadows. They were a mystery wrapped in an enigma. They were the rebellion and the hope that those not for persecution cheered for, they were the ones that you whispered stories about at night for that spark of happiness, they were legends, they were like Robin Hood, and they were the secret future.

* * *

Her name was Raven Darkholme. When she was 18, she married her childhood friend and love, brilliant scientist, Alfred Wagner. They were mutants, living a secretive existence in Germany, passing information to the rebellion as they had infiltrated and started working at a facility owned by the Three. Alfred Wagner had been a brilliant mind full of potential, the work done by that brain would assist not only the rebellion, but human life in general. He may have been young and just out of University with many degrees, at 19, but he was nothing short of a prodigy, and so he married his love, Raven, at 19. They were an unusual pair, but they complimented each other famously. Nine months after marriage, Raven would give birth to their pride and joy, Kurt. Though blue, with short fuzzy fur, a tail, and strange hands and feet, and knowing that they'd have to hide him, they loved him beyond all else. The only visible sign of Alfred's mutation were his pointed elf ears, the ones that he would give on to Kurt. One night their strange sort of happiness would end. (Yes, I KNOW Kurt's dad is Azazel, but work with me here, it's an AU) 

"Alfred! Alfred!" cried an urgent voice banging at their door.

Alfred quickly excused himself from playing with his four year old son with his wife and opened the door of his humble home to see who it was. He was greeted with the image induced, worried face of one of his coworkers and fellow member of the Rebellion, Hank McCoy, also brilliant scientist.

"Vhat is it, Hank?" asked Alfred, looking at the worried face of his friend. It was then that he noticed the suitcase and thick travel clothes on the large man.

"I think they're on to us, Alfred," he said frantically, "The Mutant Strike Force is out and scanning the area. They'll capture us for sure. We have to hurry. We have to escape before it's too late. I'll help you pack. C'mon."

Alfred nodded and rushed the frazzled man inside his home to an equally worried Raven who had overheard the conversation and was already grabbing items and stuffing them into bags. Little Kurt sat confused on the small couch in the living room. Soon the two men joined her, and within minutes they were packed and about to scour the country side until they reached the secret base for protection.

"Vhat's going on, Mozher?" asked Kurt, puzzled.

"We're packing to leave, Kurt," said Raven sadly as she dashed into the kitchen to pack food for the journey.

"Vhy?" asked Kurt as his father entered the living room.

His father knelt beside him and said the few words that he would always remember, "because ve are different, Kurt, and zhe'll hurt us if zhey find us, terribly, but ve mustn't hate zhem for zhey know not what zhey do and are just following orders."

It was strange for his four year old mind to comprehend, but soon he found himself dressed in a red jumpsuit with a blue scarf, toque, gloves and boots to ward off the winter cold. He remembered being carried by his mother for the trip, the backpack on his mother's back and the suitcases that his father and Hank lugged with them as well as they trekked the forests for hours that night. He remembered the moon was full in the dark sky and that the stars twinkled above as well. He could feel the anxiousness off of the adults. Each would look back constantly.

They didn't rest, walking through the entire night at a grueling pace for they were running for their lives. The trees were dark mysterious sentinels and the path they took was narrow and rocky, and if you didn't know where you were going, you'd get lost easily. There were no markers to get to the base, just landmarks that each member ingrained into their memories.

For hours and hours they trudged on. A day had passed, and it was night again, yet they marched on. Darting in between the trees, rocks, and greenery, staying out of sight and not making noise, they moved through the woods. It had started snowing, the breaths they breathed, ragged from exhaustion could be seen in the air. Still his mother clutched him protectively and the night formed around them, the ink blue clouds, the royal purple black sky spotted with the glow of millions of silvery white stars and the light of the silver white moon. However, they stayed hidden in the shadows, not making footprints, so as not to be tracked.

They had reached a clearing in the trees, a meadow that would be rich with wildflowers in the summer, but know blanketed with a thick layer of pure iridescent white snow. A frozen river was to their right and the raw edge of a rocky cliff was to their left. This was the most dangerous part of their route, for a hundred feet, they'd be in the open and exposed. They couldn't use their powers to defend themselves, or use Alfred's powers of teleportation to port across, or they'd be found by the Mutant Strike Force or MSF, and their mutant power detection devices. So they stuck close to the cliff wall and hoped and prayed that they'd make it passed alive, for they were so close to the base, another two hours of walking.

Suddenly, they felt eyes on them, predatory human eyes. They looked at each other urgently and hurried on, hoping that they could make it, keeping quiet. They heard the telling rustle, the snapping of twigs and branches by boots, for the MSF instilled fear in mutants, and they always made it known at the last moment that their lives were about to end and made hell. They tortured them from the first sighting. But still, Alfred didn't port them, for that would give up their location to even more MSF operatives, and make it known that they were indeed mutants.

A leap could be heard, and that's when in all ended in horror and tragedy. They heard running behind them, of a single gunman, they didn't look back, they only ran, ran for their lives. They were so close to entering the cover of the trees at the other end, so terribly close to where they'd actually stand a chance of actually escaping and fighting the gunman with hand to hand battle.

A shot rang out in the end, a shot and a single spluttered groan as blood escaped from the victims lips.

"Oh my stars and garters…" cried out Hank McCoy sadly and with gravidity.

"Alfred! ALFRED!" screamed the high-pitched fear filled voice of Raven Darkholme.

"Daddy? Fazher?" asked a confused Kurt, eyes filled with horror and fear.

Alfred Kurt Wagner fell to the pillow like snow, his blood staining the pure white, a single bullet in his throat, cutting off his oxygen. He died upon that bullet entering his body. McCoy angered by this callous act, let out an angry and sad howl and attacked the gunman, he dropped to all fours and ran to the man, swiping his face and knocking him out cold, then walking over to his fallen friend. Raven Darkholme raced to her husband, son in hold. Dr. Hank But she knew, she knew he was gone, the moment she kneeled next to his body and let out her grief, fear, anger, and sorrow in heavy tears. Kurt released himself from his mother's grip and went to his father's side.

"Daddy, Daddy? Vake up! Vake up, please! Daddy, please vake up, please. Daddy, please, it's me Kurt. You alvays listen to me, Daddy! Daddy, please…Help, me, Mommy, why won't Daddy vake up?" cried a anxious emotional little boy as he shook his father's side, but his father would not awake, the man's startling blue eyes forever opened in shock, at the end of his short life. Tears began to run down the little boy's face as he realized the situation while a saddened Beast looked on to the terrible scene, drops of blood glinting on his claws from when he swiped the sniper. Henry whispered a prayer to his friend and closed his eyes. (I know, it's really, really sad. I took a page out of the Lion King. Mufasa dying makes me cry every time.)

"Raven, Raven, w-w-we have to go, now. I-I-I'm so sorry," said Hank, his voice shaking with the emotion of his friend's death and his tears, sadness and mourning in his deep blue eyes, his ears drooped in his upset state, clasping Raven's shoulder in sorrow and comfort, "we'll pick him up later."

"Ve can't leave Daddy, Uncle Hank! Mommy, we can't leave daddy, right? Right, mommy?" asked a confused and saddened Kurt.

Raven Darkholme hardened in that moment, upon hearing her son's scared and shaken voice. No, no matter how much she wanted to take her husband with her, and give him medical attention to save him, in her heart she knew it was too late, and she could only do her husband's wish and protect herself and their son, live for him, and escape, to make sure that his sacrifice would not go in vain.

"I-I-I'm so s-s-sory, Kurt, but we have to leave him," cried out Raven, choking on her sobs, and having to be gathered and comforted by Hank's comforting embrace.

"No! NO! Ve can't leave him! Ve can't leave him…" cried Kurt, in tears, scared of all that was going on, shaking his head in denial.

"Kurt," said Hank, kneeling down and putting a heavy paw like hand on the boy's small shoulder, "we have to, I'm so sorry, but we have to," he said, pain and sorrow in his voice. Kurt let out a grief filled sob and ran into Hank's furry embrace. The big blue furry man hefted up the small boy and with that, he and a dazed Raven Darkholme walked in misery towards the forest, not 10 feet away.

Kurt's quiet sobs could still be heard as they hiked through the rough uneven wooden land. Not half an hour later, a whizzing noise zoomed through the forest, causing Hank McCoy to stumble and fall. Before he could react, another shot whizzed by and impacted into his back, two red spots on his torso starting to form. Raven and Kurt looked on horrified as Hank handed Kurt to Raven.

"Go Raven! Go! Don't stop! Go!" cried Hank as he doubled over in pain as a third shot smashed into his body, causing the kind gentle, beast looking man to collapse to the ground unconscious from all the pain, the snow turning scarlet.

Raven didn't look back as she clutched Kurt and darted between the cover of the trees. She ran as fast as she could not daring to use her powers to hide them, lest she wanted a horde of MSF operatives to know their location. Her breathe came in jagged puffs, still she knew, knew that there was another gunman behind them, more MSF operatives that had gone to find their fallen comrade.

She sped up, wanting to make it to the base as fast as she could, before they were both killed as well. Crack! The sound of a bullet as it crashed into a tree could be heard, Raven knew that the sniper had spotted them and was shooting. She squatted behind a tree.

"Kurt, Kurt, listen to me, when I tell you to run, do so, you know where to go. Promise me that you'll listen to me," Raven requested of her already scarred son as small scared, mournful tears still spilled down his fuzzy face.

"Ja, Mozher," whispered Kurt. Even in his confused state, he understood that he had to listen to his mother.

Raven nodded, looked behind her quickly, to see if the sniper was in sight, seeing that he wasn't, she bolted from the tree and sprinted off in the direction of the base, but still weaving enough to throw off the location. She rushed on, faster and faster, when all of a sudden, pain exploded in her back, causing her to stumble and fall, dropping Kurt. Her desperate emotional and pain filled eyes stared into the frightened ones of his son, as the slick red blood from her back ran into the white snow of the forest floor, tainting it in deep crimson.

"Run, Kurt!" she chocked out before her golden eyes widened as another bullet hit her in the back, causing her to grunt at the pain.

"Mozher!" screamed Kurt, fear edged in his voice.

"Go, go, please Kurt!" whispered Raven as unconsciousness took her.

Kurt got up stumbled and began to run in the direction that his parents had ingrained into him as being the safe place, the place to go if anything went bad. He scampered along as fast as his four year old legs could take him.

He had not run for long, his breaths coming up in small puffs, when a loud band echoed in the silence of the forest. A net sprang forth and began to consume him, but Kurt rolled out of the way, a scurried away, running for a small distance before another net came hurtling towards him at breakneck speed and he knew that he could dodge it. The net encapsulated him and caused him to lurch and fall to the soft snow. He rolled in a ball frightened, somehow his four year old mind could comprehend that something terrible was about to occur.

A single man wearing black army fatigues and a fur lined hat with flaps to cover his ears appeared before him.

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here," he said amused, "it's a little demon boy."

"Good job Klaus," said another man wearing the same outfit who Kurt recognized as the man Beast had swiped down from the bloody claw marks on his cheek.

"Thank you, Niklas," he said, "He's young, perfect for the labor prison, or the lab."

"He is, we take him to the lab, Essex will be most interested in him," said Niklas in a cold voice. (Yes, I know that I'm changing some of Essex's goals…but it's AU, my fic, and my power as the authoress to do whatever the hell I want, besides, he's freaking evil.)

"So we shall," said Klaus with a predatory laugh.

* * *

He name was Marie, she was four years old. She had dark cinnamon colored wavy auburn hair with a frosty white veil with the strands of hair that were her bangs and deep emerald green eyes. Her father had been a mutant, a mutant that the lynch mobs had found out about, thus ruining the little happiness that he and her mother had made for her in their little home by the banks of the Mississippi River. Her mother had not cared about that, she had loved her father dearly as she had loved Marie dearly. 

The lynch mobs had found her father out, and that night, gathered outside their small whitewashed house, tossing lit torches into the house until it began to catch on fire. The had already stormed inside and beat her father to a bloody pulp on the front porch while she and her mother hid in the master bed room above, watching in horror as the poor man stopped moving whatsoever. When they were done with her father, they began to enter the house, pouring gasoline as they went, looking for the two missing people that resided in the house. Her mother clutched Marie close to her as she hid in the closet, knowing that they'd come for her and Marie.

"Marie, listen to meh, tha passage in this closet lead to tha attic. Ah'm too big to fit through, but honey, yah're not, so Ah want ya ta climb through and get out of tha house from tha lattice that goes outsahde tha window, lahke we did last week when we went out ta look at tha stars with ya daddy, remember us climbing down from tha roof?" said the frightened young woman. Marie nodded.

"Good, Ah want ya ta climb out from tha attic, understand?" asked her mother.

"Yes, momma," said the frightened little girl, "but whah?"

"Because, honey, those people down there, they don't understand us, and are too blinded bah hate to do any different. They catch ya, and they'll do terrible things to you, but always remember that they're blinded, and when the blindness is lifted, they'll see tha lahght," she told to her daughter, "Take this," she continued unclasping a silver necklace with a delicate butterfly pendant and clasping it around her daughter's neck, "Yoah daddy gave it ta me when he first told meh he loved meh, it'll protect ya, and you'll have somethin' ta remembah us bah."

Her brain was too young to process the gravity of what those words meant, but she knew from her mother's tone of voice, and fear in her body language, that it was bad.

"Climb bah tha sahde hidden bah ivy, and keep outta saight, girl, got it?" asked her mother.

"Yes," said Marie nodding.

"Good, sweetie, remember that ya daddy and Ah love ya, no matter what, even though you maight not evah see us again, alright?" said the woman with tears in the green eyes she passed to her little girl.

"Okay, momma, Ah love ya too," said Marie, not quite understanding why her mother would say this. The truth was her mother was ready to sacrifice herself, so that her child could escape.

"Good, honey, now hurry," whispered her mother as she pulled open the passage to the attic on the ceiling of the closet. She then hefted Marie through and placed her on the ledge.

"I love you, Marie, now go," said her mother as she closed the passage off from her daughter as the sounds of many people entered the bedroom, trashing items before finding her mother and beating her. Marie could hear her mother's cries as she crawled in the darkness of the attic. The night was already bright with the flames that were devouring their home. She crawled on until she reached the window that they had all crawled out of last week and climbed onto the lattice to reach the roof to watch the stars. The lattice also lead to the ground as well and was on the side of the house about five meters away from where the next house started, it was also deserted.

Marie carefully and soundlessly lifted up the window and slowly but surely lifted herself onto the ledge of the window. Balancing precariously on the ledge of the window, she crawled to the lattice and began to make her climb down to the ground many floors below. When she finally made it down, she climbed the fence to the neighbor's house and hid in their backyard for awhile until the noises from the riot died down. Later that night, she began to follow the river to God knows where. Her emerald green t-shirt, faded jeans with butterfly patches and white sneakers were already worn, but now they were dirty from the climb and her subsequent walk by the river. Her wavy hair swayed in the wind and the small silver necklace around her neck that her mother had given her jangled slightly.

She had walked for what seemed like hours, without stopping, the beating of her father and the screams of her mother still haunting her mind. Suddenly, she heard a shout.

"That's her, the mutant kid that escaped the house," shouted a voice; she spotted a man in black army fatigues with the letters MSF on his left chest pocket. She had remembered seeing other mutants being taken and beaten by those men and knew that if they caught her, it would be horrific, so she ran with all her might that her small four year old legs could carry. A loud bang exploded in the air and a net was flung towards her, trapping her in its depths, making her immobile, she tried to struggle but it was no use.

"The boss will be pleased. He's gonna use the young ones to test on how to destroy the X-gene, since it's still developing," said another man as he approached his comrade.

"Yeah, Essex will totally be pleased," said the man with a cold smile, "it's time to ship this little sweetheart off to Siberia with the rest of them."

A white cloth was pressed over her nose and mouth that had a burning sweet scent, making her pass out.

* * *

"And this is where you'll be stayin' girlie, enjoy the view," laughed a cruel man as he tossed Marie into a cell with black electric gates and cold steel walls, with such force that she hit the wall with an smacking noise, before she yelped in pain and fell to the floor. The electric gate then slammed shut as the codes all reset and locked her in. However, she was not alone in the cell. She had been loaded on a plane with some other mutants and flown to the prison in Siberia. 

A boy with golden eyes, blue fur and hair, two toed feet, three fingered hands, pointed ears, fangs and a long prehensile tail approached the fallen girl slowly.

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Are you alvright?"

The girl moaned and Kurt helped her up to a sitting position.

"Sorta," she whispered back, "who are you?" She asked curiously with no fear towards the boy's appearance.

"I am Kurt Wagner," he said in a German accented voice, "Vhat is your name?"

"Mah name is Marie," she said back, "Where am Ah?"

"I'm not zure. All I know iz zhat zhey come get you and then bring you to a big scary room, where zhey make you go to sleep, and vhen you vake up you're back in your cell. Zhe food is alright zhough, not too bad," said Kurt glad to finally have some company again and someone to talk to besides his fearful thoughts and pained memories.

"Do ya know what happens in the room?" asked Marie with fear from what her mother had told her. Kurt shook his head, his deep blue hair flapping a bit.

"Are there any other people here besahdes the mean people who wear black and you?" asked Marie.

"Ja," he said, Marie gave a confused look, "It means yes, and zhere are ozher people like us in cells and a man vearing all vhite in zhe big scary room. He's zhe one zhat makes you fall asleep."

"Oh," said Marie, "It's cold in here." She rubbed her arms, trying to get warm.

"I know. Here's my blanket," said Kurt, holding up a ratty old red blanket, "I'll zhare it vith you."

"Okay," said Marie, "do you know when we'll eat?" She snuggled up next to Kurt with the blanket over both of them.

"Soon, afther zhe man in vhite walks down zhe halls and looks at all of us," said Kurt.

Suddenly, the clanging of boots could be heard as a man in black boots and slacks, and a long white lab coat stalked the halls with one of the MSF agents at his side. He had black hair slicked back, cold stone eyes and pale skin.

"We put the new one in the cell with the blue boy," said the MSF agent pointing to the cell which held Kurt and Marie.

"Thank you, officer. That will be all, you may give the order to give them food, now," said the man in the lab coat in a deep baritone voice.

"Yes, Dr. Essex," said the officer as he headed off in the opposite direction to give orders.

Nathaniel Essex approached the cell and bent slightly, peering in to see Kurt and Marie huddled together in the cold, watching him with fearful eyes, causing a slow smile to spread on his face as he said, "I'll be seeing you two, soon…" He then straightened up and went to see his other lab patients.

"He's creepy," said Marie.

"Ja, he is," said Kurt as the gate once again slid open and two trays of plain food were pushed through.

The two children then crawled to the food and began to eat it hungrily. It consisted of some warm thick soup, bread, a portion of vegetables, meat, cheese and a glass of milk each.

"It tastes kinda funny," said Marie, tasting her food.

"I know but you kinda get used to it," said Kurt.

"Where'd ya get that?" asked Marie concerning a dark swollen welt against Kurt's left eye.

"If you're not careful, zhen zhe guards, zhey hurt you," he said sadly, "so be careful vhen zhey enter and you'll be okay."

"Okay…So how long have you been here anyway?" asked Marie.

"A few months, I zhink," said Kurt, "Do you know vhat month it is?"

"Ah think it's March now," said Marie.

"Zhen I have been here for about two months, I zhink," said Kurt sadly, "I really miss my mozher and fazher."

"Me too," said Marie, "what happened to them?"

"They were shot vhen ve vere running vith Uncle Hank, who vas shot too," said Kurt sadly as he looked away, sipping his soup, "What happened to yours?"

"Mah daddy was beat real bad and Ah think momma was too," said Marie, her voice breaking.

Kurt didn't say anything, just hugged her, she hugged back too. In that moment they formed a strong bond. They were the only ones that could understand each other, the only ones that they could talk to and the only ones that this seemed to be happening to, or so they thought to themselves. From then on, they became like brother and sister, sharing what little they could with each other. They became close because of their losses and the situation in which they were thrust upon. They promised then, to take care of each other and to look out for each other, because at that moment, they were all that they had in the world that had taken so much away from them.

* * *

"Gahrrrrr," sounded the thoaty growl, followed by much banging, punching being thrown and cursing, that was the sound that wakened Marie and Kurt about three weeks after Marie had arrived. 

"Get him back," shouted a voice. Marie and Kurt slowly made their way to the front of their cell, gazing into the hall to see, many guards dragging a snarling, snapping hairy man, fighting all the way. His dark hair was messy, and he had tons of wounds covering his stocky frame. They were all large and appeared to be fatal, and yet this man had not received medical attention and was fighting as if he had no injury at all. He was a caged animal. The man's face was ensnared in a scowl. Claws erupted from his hands and he began to slash at the guards causing injury to many. The man didn't give up, as more guards approached him, it only caused him to anger even more and attack more violently, the guards were sporting some rather large lacerations on their bodies. Suddenly, another man appeared, the commanding officer of the guards and with him a squadron carrying tranquilizer guns with enough tranquilizer to make a rhino go down.

They began to shoot the darts at him, but barely slowing the wild man down. It seemed to be no use. The tranquilizers were taking no effect. The commanding officer brought out his electrocution rod as well as the rest of his squadron and they approached the beast, now distracted by the remaining guards that were still putting up a fight. Walking wearily up to the man, the squadron all poked the rods at the enraged mutant at the same time, sending wild forks of electricity onto his body, making it steam. The man howled in pain, causing Kurt and Marie to cover their sensitive ears, and fell down unconscious. The men trying to control the out of control animal all breathed a sigh of relief and dragged their injured comrades for medical attention, leaving the head squadron to deal with the feisty mutant. (Wow, I just noticed that I really torture Logan in my fics, but hey, the guy can heal, and it's only physical pain…I mean he's rather unangsty right now…)

"Put him in that cell," said the commanding officer pointing to Kurt and Marie's cell.

"Are you sure you want to put him in with children?" asked another officer.

"Who cares? Besides, it's the only one with room, plus Blue Boy and Streak Girl need a friend," he said with a laugh, causing the questioner to smile. The rest of the guards hefted the man up and headed towards Kurt and Marie's cell. Marie and Kurt backed into their corner, not wanting to be beaten again. The gate hissed open and the men tossed the burly mutant into the room, where he landed with a thud on the floor, sliding a few inches. The gate then slid back into place and reset.

"Is it alahve?" asked Marie.

"I don't know, let's take a look," said Kurt. The two children crawled forward to investigate the man on the floor of their cell. When they reached his side, Rogue said, "Well, he looks like he's breathing. Touch him."

"Nein, you touch him," said Kurt.

"Eww…no, he's steaming," said Marie.

"Fine, we both touch him zhen," finished Kurt.

"Fine," said Marie agreeing. The two children looked at each other and poked the man in front of them with an outstretched finger.

"He's squishy," said Kurt.

"Yeah, he is," said Marie as they both continued to poke repeatedly as well as faster at the unconscious, bleeding, and injured man.

Suddenly, the man groaned and opened his eyes, sifting his weight and moving into a sitting position, causing the children to back away quickly.

"Didn't yer parents ever tell ya not ta poke someone, kids," said the man in a deep gruff voice, wincing in pain and checking his body for any further damage. His healing factor began to work, but at a delayed pace due to the negation field in the cell.

"No," said Kurt and Marie in unison, completely innocent looks on their faces, shuffling away from him with scared looks on their faces. As far as they'd known, they'd probably angered a sleeping bear.

The man sighed, "Don't worry, I won't hurt ya," he said making eye contact and raising his hands in a non threatening manner. The kids inched closer to their new cellmate.

"What happened ta yer folks, anyway?" asked the man cautiously, but already knowing the answer what with everything that was going on these days. Both children looked away from him and to their hands, fiddling slightly, if he didn't know better, he'd think they were twins or something, but due to the different accents and appearances, he ascertained that they had just bonded in this place of horrors.

"I'm sorry to see that," said the man sincerely with a pained look, "You can call me Logan. What's yer names?"

"I am Kurt Wagner," said the blue boy with golden eyes.

"I'm Marie," said the girl with white bangs softly.

"So how did you get here?" asked Kurt.

"I'm not sure that I should be telling you," said Logan wearily. You never told little kids frightening stories before bed. But then, considering the circumstances, he was sure that these two kids had seen much worse than what he could tell them about his capture.

"Please, Logan, Ah haven't heard a story in so long," begged Marie with widened green eyes that you just couldn't refuse. She would learn to use that to her advantage for years to come against Logan.

"Ja, Logan, please," begged Kurt as well, with his eyes slightly watering in a puppy dog look, ears drooped and tail swishing slightly. These kids would be the death of him, he decided in that moment.

Logan sighed and reluctantly began to tell them of his capture. He had been in a caged bar fight near Fort McMurray, in Northern Alberta in Canada, to earn some cash (I'm Canadian, so yes I can name cities in remote Alberta)…umm…he had been in a dark tavern deep, similar to the Prancing Pony in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring, in the wilds of Canada in a small town and was in a fight to win the 'Magic Growth Potion' to make him tall…he had been winning the fight, when the battlers figured out that there was something up with him because he never seemed to injure due to his healing factor…umm…due to his magic powers…the barkeep pulled out a gun and was about to shoot him for being a mutant, so he unsheathed his claws and sliced the gun to uselessness…umm…the tavern owner pulled out his magic wand and was about to put him into an eternal sleep, but he unsheathed his claws and destroyed it…however, by that time, the MSF had been called and had apprehended him…umm…the evil gnomes had been summoned…after a lengthy battle, in which men were injured, furniture was shattered and property destroyed, they had captured him when they prodded him with electric rods and shot him with tranquilizers along with other firearms…umm…the gnomes had used their magic powers on him and apprehended him….the MSF had then flown him back to their base where he awakened and he caused hell…the gnomes had then transported him to the base were they transformed into the black garbed men were he fought them…

What he didn't tell him was that he had most of his memories missing due to the last time the MSF had taken him and his adamantium skeleton was implanted, then he escaped and that he could've sworn that before then he had been with some old bald guy in a wheel chair…and that after that the memories got hazy before leading to vague memories of him running rampant in a forest somewhere, living like an animal, and before that even hazier memories of what seemed like World War II, which was impossible, because he didn't look over 40, and he had looked the same during that time.

"Yah're reallah good at tellin' stories, Mr. Logan," said Marie with a cute smile, still wide eyed and attentive due to his story.

"Ja," said Kurt, then yawning, "Tuck us in?" he asked, and Logan could not refuse, because he knew that the kids really needed someone to do that for them, that no one had been giving them that for awhile, and they were kids, dammit, they deserved that.

They're too goddamned cute for their own good, he thought, pulling the worn blanket over them and falling asleep beside them in front of the gate, to protect them.

* * *

A month had gone by since Logan had joined them, and things had been steadily getting worse for them at the prison, they were made to go to the lab, Logan had told them that was what it was, more often, the guards were beating them up more, despite Logan's best efforts to protect his self-appointed charges, and they were given meager meals. However, it did not stop them from celebrating Kurt's fifth birthday in mid-March, nor Marie making Logan sing 'Happy Birthday' with her for him. They had given Kurt extra soup that night as a present, and Kurt knew that it was the thought and gesture that counted in that action, and he was most honored that they'd do that for him. Kurt and Marie had come to be like Logan's children and he knew that the kids saw him like the father that they had each lost. 

He was young, with cold steel eyes and greasy brown hair, one of the worse and most bigoted guards in the entire work prison, and he entered their small cell to 'check up' on his charges. His heavy hobnailed boots made high pitched slapping tingling noises on the steel floor in the halls of the cells. He was coming closer to their small cell. They heard him stop in front of the electric gate with an electric field to keep the inmates in, pressed the proper code, swiped his key card, and put his thumb on the pad for fingerprint identification. The gate opened about three feet, and the man entered, the electric field building again as he entered, but still leaving the gate open, as if to taunt the prisoner mutants.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he said as he stalked in front of Kurt and Marie. Marie and Kurt sat cowered in a corner. The two small children were huddled together in a tight ball, holding each other, shaking with terror, eyes wide with fear as they looked onto the man approaching them, breathing ragged and fast, whimpering could be heard as well from them in anticipation of their treatment.

He kneeled low as he stopped in front of the two children, causing them to close their eyes in fear. He laughed at their reaction, a cruel heartless sound, taking pleasure in their fear. They were already beaten and battered, and now they'd be more so.

"Why it's a pair of despicable mutie kids, all ready to be cleansed," he said with a malign smirk. He started with a loud booming near shout but finished in a hushed whisper with the word 'cleansed.'

He made a fist and punched Kurt in the jaw, causing the boy to yelp in pain, his head snapping back. The force caused him to fly several feet to the right. He hoisted up Marie and threw her to the floor, and let her slide several feet, before going to her and kicking her hard in the stomach, as she rolled into the defensive ball position. She howled in pain as he landed each kick painfully. As he got bored, he went up to Kurt, picked him up and flung him to the wall, then punched him a few times in the gut, causing the boy to scream in pain and cry.

Logan's dormant eyes, snapped open to the sounds of the children being beaten, furious. He let out a low growl.

"Leave. Them. Alone." Breathed Logan, violence and venom in his voice. The only reason he had not awaken earlier was due to the drugs in his system from the recent experimentation.

"You got somethin' t' say, MUTIE?" shouted the guard upon hearing the Wolverine utter those words.

All of a sudden, with an inhuman speed Logan unsheathed his claws, with the holes bleeding profusely due to the inactive healing factor due to the negation field, pinned the guard to the wall and lifted the man a foot off the groud.

"You leave them alone, or I'll cut out your throat, bub," breathed the burly Canadian into the guard's ear low and dangerous. The guard reached for his electric rod and poked Logan in the stomach causing the man to fall to the ground howling in pain from the new torture to his already partially healing body.

"Yeah, I didn't think so, mutie," said the guard smugly, straightening his uniform and strutting out of the cell like he owned the place.

Slowly, and cautiously after recovering from their pain, Kurt and Marie timidly crawled to Logan's pained side.

"Thank you," whispered Kurt, gratefully.

"Yah're very brave," whispered Marie as well.

Logan opened his kind and saddened intense grey blue eyes, "Yer welcome. Ya don't deserve this, any of this, kids. I promise, with all my heart, to get ya outta here. You can hold me to that, I promise you." Logan saw the hope well up in their young eyes that had already seen too much of the bad in the world, and he knew that he would do all in his power to keep that promise to those two children.

He felt two small weights snuggle up to his chest for warmth in sleep in the cold dank cell. He let out a small smile at the action of the two of the kids and wrapped his strong mangled arms around their tiny bodies, hugging them close, before they all drifted into a troubled sleep. Kurt and Marie in this simple action had given Logan the humanity he needed to become the human again, a reason to live and a reason to fight.

* * *

"Take him," said the evil guard with the greasy hair. It had been another two months had passed. Several other guards began to apprehend Logan, but he fought them off, and soon all of them were bloodied. Logan never went without a fight, he made sure of that. Today, however, they weren't using the high grade tranquilizer though, which puzzled them. 

A gun was heard cocking and twin whimpers of fear causing Logan to stop beating the guards.

"How about this, mutie, you come quietly, and I won't kill your precious little kids?" said the guard evilly, "I'll even let you say goodbye before we transfer you to the lab in the Mojave, since Essex is starting hate the cold." Logan immediately withdrew.

"Good, we'll give you five minutes, when we get back, you'll come quietly or your little friends will get their brains blown out," said the spiteful guard.

"Fine," growled Logan. The guards left and Logan went towards the kids.

"We'll miss ya, Logan," said Rogue, coming up to give him a hug, tears in her big emerald eyes. She and Kurt had really begun to think of Logan as their dad after losing their own so callously.

"Ja," said Kurt, he too came to Logan and gave him a big hug, eyes watering and voice cracking, his tail and ears drooped in sadness.

Logan wrapped his arms around the two kids and said, "I'll miss you too, as well."

"Just remember that I keep my promises and that I will get you two out," he looked each of them in the eyes and watched to see if they understood. They nodded.

"Buck up, you two, you'll be out there again before you know it," said Logan giving them a rare smile that was truly sincere, tapping each of their chins and causing them to smile through their tears.

The guards began to come back, so he hurried.

"Goodbye, Kurt, goodbye Marie, be good, and I'll see you soon," said Logan as he followed the guards out of the cell, but not before being cuffed with negation cuffs. As he walked to the plane, he hoped and prayed that he'd be able to keep his promise to those two kids.

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Okay, so here's Chapter One, Part One. Part Two will be much of the same except that it will deal with some of the rest of the characters. Remy's past will be revealed and Kurt, Marie and Logan will be rescued as well as Hank and Ororo joining in...If it doesn't run too long, Kitty's, Piotr's John's and Wanda's pasts will come into play too. However, they'll probably show up in Part Three of Chapter One. I'll probably put the first Romy meeting into play too in Part Three, so stay tuned. 

**_REVIEW! _It will help convince me to work a little quicker and post up the Romy bits. Although I got the Remy bit written out. I think you'll like it. **

simba317


	3. Part I: Dreams of Escapism

**NOTE:** As of October, 27th, 2005, I have restructured this piece of fiction to make more sense. Part I will deal with the past and Part II will deal with everything that is currently happening in their timeline at the time of the Prologue.

**Disclaimer:** As I'm all sure you all know by now, I don't own X-Men Evolution, or ever will, unless I get a kazillion dollars.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, this chapter's part is a little late coming out. Blame Harry Potter. I'm a fast reader, though, it took me only two days to read…Then there was Summer School, but I'm done the last week of July, so as of now, so I can update like insane for the next while. Also, this got somewhat long, again, and I didn't want to break it up anymore, because otherwise it'd be a four part chapter one…and like damn…that'd suck.

As I said before, this will be part two of chapter one, and depending on how far I get and how ridiculously long it gets, there will be a part three of Chapter One, I would bet on Part 3. In this, Remy will make his appearance, and you see the Rogue link…is it fate or coincidence? You'll get to see the Resistance get some victories as well as the fate of Logan, Kurt, and Rogue. Plus, you'll get to see some of the characters deal with the loss of loved ones and moving on. And if I can fit it in without it being an overload, you'll see Kitty, John, Piotr and Wanda's pasts. If not they'll be featured in Part 3, along with the first Romy meeting, so stay tuned for that. Chapter Two will show the forming of Ferocity, how they work as a team and such, the missions they've had etc…and why Remy and Rogue aren't together will be revealed, along with some of their interactions…also the fateful mission where Logan is taken…I may also split Chapter Two into parts or make the mission Chapter Three.

I really believe that this is the fic with the most ambitiousness and scope in terms of the other things I'm writing as of now, mainly because it's AU and I can do anything I want without having to worry about continuity and such. I have a tone of ideas for this, and it really will be shaping up as the Resistance fighting the MSF for their right to live. That and the Romyness that gets placed in that sort of environment. One of the reasons I had Raven and Alfred married so young is because of the war going on and the fact that at any moment they could lose everything, and you really have to cherish the ones you love. So they really grew up fast in the Rebellion and they really came together fast because of it, because of the fear, just like Hank and Ororo will. I think Remy and Rogue realize this, but things got in the way of it, and despite it all, I will try my best to show that they do in fact have some sort of strange relationship and do love each other, but without the actual acknowledgment of a relationship, although, that's gonna change…you'll see.

Don't fret guys, the Romy will come, if not in this part, I promise for sure in part three. Trust me when I say, it'll be sexual tension, wit, innuendos, angst and violence all the way. Some classic Romy stuff, I guess. You will find out why they backed off from a feasible relationship. I think they do love each other, they just don't admit that to themselves, let alone each other. Plus, that one event that gave them their current state of mind really puts everything into perspective for them. I feel like I'm dangling meat at you guys, and you're hungry dogs...I'm sorry for that, but I really wanna build a strong back story, and show why everyone will be how they are, and just what happened to them to make them join the Resistance and show how bad it is for them. Romy in next part for sure, they will first meet, next update.

And thanks to all those that reviewed my fic. I get such a thrill from reading your responses. It makes me feel proud that something I wrote is being liked and someone has taken the time to type down what they thought. They definitely make fanfiction worth it, because you're really not doing it for money, just a bit of fun, and some reader feedback. So once again, I extend my thanks to you guys for reviewing, and hope you continue to review. They really inspire me to write, and write faster as well.

On a side note, summer school is practically half done, so I'll have some more time to write, on the weekends and stuff, if I'm not busy or going anywhere. I'll see how quickly I can update this stuff...and my other fics. I need to work on them too! It's crazy; I have three fics going on at once…but it really helps to eliminate lethargy towards typing this stuff out.

**Shout Outs:**

**Numbah 333 half way 2 hell:** Your fic sounds interesting, I'll try to take a look if I have some time on my hands, which won't be anytime soon, due to the fact that I have freaking summer school…Oh and go crazy with the Mutant Strike Force. I'm sure it's been used before and it's not really my idea, I probably heard it somewhere and subconsciously created it into use for this fic. I'm not sure they're really gonna be the baddies though, I feel like doing a Hitler parallel to the SS with them a bit.

**Thanagarian Angel: **Thanks for reviewing this, and my other fics. I'm glad that I made you anticipate this part.

**Bored247:** Thanks for the compliment. I was totally going for the sadness in this part and each character will have his or her own tearjerker of a past. I can't believe that I was actually able to make you guys so sad and cry. WOW. I just had to make Logan do that, because he's gruff and rough around the edges, and can appear to be mean, but underneath, he's got this quirky sense of honor, where you just don't hurt little kids, and he's a big softie underneath.

**GothikStrawberrry:** I honestly felt a little awkward putting in their ages, so I completely understand why that sounds awkward, but the more I thought about actually putting their ages in, the more in seemed to fit. Just because they're fighting a rebellion, they're mutants, they're surrounded by death and know at any moment they can be found out, captured and killed, so they got married young because they realized that their time together was precious and they may never get a chance to fulfill their dreams if they wait. I think that really became reality with Alfred dying just like that, all of a sudden they were packing and on the move, an MSF operative shows up and guns him down. It ends. It's callous, yes, but that's the reality of the lives they lead to survive, to persevere, and to eek a better life for themselves and their children. They knew that their relationship could end at a drop of a hat, and they had to hold that precious and treasure their time together.

Thanks for the ego boost, and you're totally right, I am worried as to how people will perceive these changes, because it is an AU and because there's all this dark moody stuff happening. I just have this wide scope with this fic, and in a few ways, it's a little more ambitious than my other fics. I'm really glad you liked how Kurt and Rogue met. I think you'll really enjoy Remy's past. It's a new twist on an old story. And yes, the glorious Romy is still to come…

**Ishy:** 'HELP!...SOMEBODY…anybody….HELP!...help…(the canyons echo with the cries of a frantic young lion cub)' What can I say? It's one of my favorite movies ever. I like know all the lines, especially that part. I always cry too, no matter how many times I see it, when Mufasa dies. OMG, it's the saddest thing ever, what, with Simba crying out for help in the canyon…I'm a good little crack bunny…I have to say, that it's sorta fun to hold the Romyness over your heads, the evil part of me is loving it, I just get such a kick out of the people going, how did this happen? Tell me NOW! But you will find out come chapter 2 or 3, depends on how long these things get…but it will be totally angst ridden, and just make you wanna shove them into a room until they admit it and have it out in the air. I was only thinking about it and I wanted to do that, but it's really sad and emotional and telling of their personalities and their pasts.

I just had to do that to Logan, I honestly don't think he has it in him to tell that amount of violence to little kids, he's just too much of a softie to do so. I really think that he would have changed his story a bit to make it more kid friendly. I think the back stories will really show exactly why they do what they do, because each of them really does have a tearjerker. Oh, and you are so right about that Romy thing, it is bad. It really did a lot to push each other away. Although, it doesn't mean that they aren't attracted to each other, they just repressed their emotions in order to appease everything that they did. The Romy will come, when they reach their breaking point and can no longer keep that bit of emotion within without exploding.

**Realtfarraige:** Thanks again for the review. I really enjoyed it. I love hearing that what I really tried to message out with my fic is being heard. You're right, the events in which Rogue and Kurt lost their parents is totally sad and scarring, and I really wanted to show how bad it is for mutants, and what better way than to use such classic characters that you've grown so attached to, it really brings it home. Logan really is the only piece of normalcy for the two of them; he's like their rock in all the chaos. You're so right about Logan too, he's the reluctant father figure, but once he's in deep, he really takes that role to the extreme and really goes to enjoy it, like he's protecting his pups. You're right, humanity is so messed up, we've done bad shit to so many people, our same race, dammit, it's really despicable, and the thing about the X-Men is that it's just that taken to the extreme a bit. I was totally looking for that reaction of disgust that I wanted to have come off with that guard beating them up and I didn't give him a name for a purpose, and I guess it's to show that bigotry really is faceless. It's in everyone, and it's how you react to it, that shows your character. I really wanted to use the examples of genocide to show how we humans really haven't changed much from all the lessons we were supposed to learn from the past. It's like they say, 'we're doomed to repeat the past.' It seems that everyone cries when Mufasa dies…and it really has been 11 years, hasn't it, God, we're such saps, oh well, I used to have to walk out of the room at that part…Weird thing is that I actually have a Simba plush from 1994 that I still have to this day, from Christmas. He's my baby.

I now happily present to you, with no more interruptions, Underground Resistance X…

* * *

**PART ONE: CHAPTER ONE: DREAMS OF ESCAPISM

* * *

**

Ororo Munroe, resident weather goddess, strolled down the bright metallic halls of the underground base of the Resistance, and entire city in underneath the earth, hidden from view and detection. It was the single most technologically advanced complex in the world. This being the headquarters, it was the best of all ten that lay scattered around the planet. It was buried under rugged mountains, sentient trees and illusionary water in the forest depths of northern Canada. This hub housed hundreds of mutants in private living quarters that looked nothing like the metallic halls that Ororo walked currently, state of the art computer technology for communication, detection and hacking amongst other things, training facilities and a spy network bigger, stronger, faster, and more secret than the CIA, FBI, and NSA combined. With the spy network also came the training to all mutants in the facility, spy or not, in defense, to protect themselves from attack successfully, not to mention the army that they had, that could be deployed to help out in any sticky situation immediately, although they were incredibly stealthy despite it's size. Of course, the fact that it was masked not only by technology, but mutant power, was a whole other matter.

Ororo Munroe rounded the corner and approached their appointed meeting room, for they had just found some information that would be of interest to the agents that were waiting for her in the meeting room, being the liaison between all bases around the world. She was about 24 years old, well she would be in four months, and she had already been given the important role of liaison to all the bases in the resistance, but not only that, the safe houses and smaller complexes as well.

She had been recruited by Charles Xavier when she was 8 years old and running from a mob of mutant riots. She had been running for blocks, trying to escape the mob. They were throwing sharp items at her, and she was dirty, bloody and bruised, but she knew that she couldn't stop running, or she'd be caught and it'd all end for her. It was all started when a man she had tried to steal from found her out and was about to hurt her with a butcher knife and she had freaked. Her emotions of fear had caused her eyes to glow white and lightning to spark from the sky, and thus the man had figured it out, and she was ousted as a mutant.

She remembered being so frightened and sure that her life would end then in the claustrophobic alleys of Cairo, when suddenly, a door opened, just as her sister's had, not a week before due to another anti-mutant mob.

"Come here, child, I'll help you," said a kind male voice. Ororo looked at the man, he was sitting in a wheelchair with a kind trusting look in his eyes, a welcoming smile and a bald head, and hesitated. She was so unsure of what to do, if she trusted this man, then she had to have faith that he was trustworthy and wouldn't hurt her, if she didn't she'd have to face the anger of the mob. She decided to follow her gut feeling. She quickly climbed into the door with the man in the wheelchair.

"W-W-Who are you?" she had asked in a frightened whisper.

"My name is Charles Xavier, child, and you needn't be afraid of me, or them for that matter, you are safe here," he said soothingly.

"How do you know that?" she had asked.

"Well, child, like you, I am a mutant, except that my powers allow myself to communicate telepathically to others, read minds and bend their will to my doing, but don't worry I'll never do that without your permission or unless there's a necessary circumstance like right now," said Xavier, Ororo nodded in understanding, she somehow trusted this man, he just felt like you could trust him, "so what's your name child?"

"Ororo Munroe," she said.

"That's a lovely name," said Xavier with a smile, "I know you're scared and frightened with all the anti-mutant hysteria, but I live somewhere where you'll be safe, and where you'll be with others with gifts just like you, who are trying to live peacefully with humans too, and who are working to end the war against mutants. Would you like to come with me?"

Ororo smiled the first she had in a long time. For now, this sounded right, better than living on the streets and stealing, only to be hurt by the people who hated her kind, she could no longer hide herself and she knew this was the right path to take, "I'd like that," she said. Charles Xavier gave her his outstretched hand, and she took it. It was probably one of the best decisions in her life. It had turned out that Xavier was looking around the streets of Cairo; having just finished a base buried under the sand nearby, and had heard her pleas for help with his telepathy and had been in the shop with the door at the time, looking at rugs. When he realized her fears and problem, he snuck to the back of the shop to the door that opened to the alley, and helped her, by giving her a hiding spot, and making the mob believe that she had kept on running down the street.

She had spent the rest of her life with Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr and the Resistance, doing some of the most worthwhile work she could imagine. She had been one of their first pupils that they had taught themselves and trained as well. The two men had taught her how to control her powers as well as given her a great education, self defense among other things. They had taught her not to hate people for fearing her and hunting her, because they were ignorant and afraid and they had helped her become one of the best agents in the Resistance.

She entered the meeting room. It was rich and ornately furnished and you'd never guess that outside the doors which were metal on the outside and wooden on the inside, that there would be an underground base upon exited, instead, you'd probably anticipate a Victorian mansion. It had rich wingback chairs made of ornate thick fabric surrounding a large long carved wooden table. The carpets on the floor were priceless Orientals and the lighting fixtures were crystal chandeliers. On the floor next to the heavy door was a pair of Ming Dynasty vases that went passed her waist. The only things that looked a little out of place was the large screen on the wall that could be used to project images and was really a supercomputer with controls at the head of the table with a small laptop.

As she entered, she took in the faces of the room, the kind elderly faces of Professor Xavier and Doctor Lehnsherr (Let's just say he's got a doctorate in teaching…), the jovial blue furred features of young prodigal, Dr. Hank McCoy, and the grim and still saddened face of one of their best agents, Raven Darkholme. She sighed upon seeing that her friend was still so broken by what had happened five months ago, but she didn't have the heart, or the justification to tell the mourning woman to move on, because she would have been the same way in her situation. Her friend had already had such a harsh life and now this, she certainly didn't deserve it, not after all she'd been through…

Raven Darkholme was born in Germany, where her best and closest friend, Alfred Wagner had lived in their childhood. When she was ten years old, her family moved away to the States, where she lost her German accent, however, she stayed in constant contact with her dear friend over letters and pictures sent back and forth as well as yearly trips they made back to their mother country. The German expatriate lived a rather nice life in America, that is, until her mutation surfaced at age 15. She remembered waking up one morning noticing that her skin looked a little blue and didn't really think much of it, just figured she had the flu, just as her mother did, and she stayed home that day. However, her skin began to darken into a true blue as the days increased and she was taken to the doctor.

When she had arrived at the doctor's office, a blue that made her look like a combination of a drowning and hypothermia victim, she had received strange looks from the other patients, looks of disgust, anger and violence, frightening her immensely. When the doctor finally saw her, he was positively baffled; he had simply never seen anything like it for she was perfectly healthy in everyway, except in her skin colour. The befuddled man ordered blood tests to be done and after a vial was drawn; only time would tell. Unfortunately, she would never get those results back.

The MSF had done a mandatory search of the doctor's office and found her blood work, upon analyzing it; they found the active X-gene present and took off after her. About a week after her trip to the doctor's office, her skin had gone nearly completely blue, her dark brown eyes had faded to a honey brown, and her once auburn hair, was reddening. She looked frightening, in her opinion, and she refused to leave her room, even to the insistence of her family. Suddenly, the door was blown open with an explosive, blowing those in the living room, watching television back several feet. They pointed their guns at the Darkholmes and lined them up in a line, on their knees with their hands on their heads at gunpoint. The fear in that room was suffocating.

She remembered that moments before her family was taken captive, men had taken her and cuffed her arms and feet as well as gagging her. 15 year old Raven, had tried to put up a fight, but it was useless due to the sheer numbers of the soldiers and their strength over her. She had been dragged down to the living room once the MSF had her family at gunpoint, her mother, father, two older brothers, two younger brother and two younger sisters, all shuddering in fear.

"Today is a glorious day, my friends. The Earth will be cleansed of more mutie scum and a family carrying the tainted X-gene will be eliminated as well," boomed the bigoted voice of the commander of the troops to the hoots and cheers of his men. Raven was then pushed roughly to her knees, burning painfully on the threads of the carpet.

The man who had pushed her to the carpet whispered menacingly into her ear, "So mutie, how does it feel to see your contaminated family die."

Her eyes had widened in fear and she had screamed, begged them to not do it, but it fell on death ears as the commander ordered his men to prepare to fire.

She had remembered her parent's last words to her, "Raven, we love you, you are not scum, you are our daughter, always our daughter," said her father.

"We love you Raven, always remember that, no matter what, we love you," whispered her mother staring straight into her pained and tortured eyes. She looked around and saw the loving looks of her siblings.

"It's not your fault, schwester, I love you," said her eldest brother, Jens, just as the commander ordered them to silence. She would forever remember Jens' eyes, determined, proud and always loving, even to the end. He would die with honor, honor of never judging his sister, of loving her, despite it all. He only wished that he had to chance to tell her that he was a mutant too, one that could manipulate his skin tone, eye and hair color.

Eight guns were cocked and at the commander's order, eight gun shots rang into the air, and a round impact crater was embedded in the middle of the forehead of each of her family members, they had been killed instantly. Her cry of anguish and her agonized sobs had echoed through the house. Blood was splattered on the walls.

"Don't worry, sweet heart, you're next, you'll be joining them," told the cruel voice of a female member of the squad, her dark eyes cold as she dragged her to the spot where her family had just been murdered before her young eyes. In that moment, something snapped in Raven Darkholme. No, she thought, she would not die, she could not die, and she would not let these evil people get away with what they had done to her, to the ones she loved. Her captors pressed her down to the floor by her arms. She began to fight back and hard, kicking and thrashing as much as she could with her bonds, but they were just too many.

Just as the command was given and the gun cocked, she let out a bloodcurdling beleaguered scream and something miraculous happened. The final manifestation of her powers was initiated. The bonds that held her limbs into immobility disappeared. She felt her bones shrinking, her blue skin changed and she felt them change into something completely different. She appeared reborn, as a glorious raven soaring above her captors. The speed at this transformation shocked and amazed her subjugators. She let out an angered screech and flew out the ashes of the blown open front door, upon flying above her once happy home, she let out a final cry of goodbye to her family, one of sorrow and pain, one showing all the love and gratitude to them, and one promising that there would be retribution to those who did this to them. She decided then that she would not let another mutant like herself suffer like this.

She remembered flying deep into the forest near her home and hiding there in her new found form. It was there that she began to practice her transformations and found that she could look like anyone and anything she pleased. It was how she had been able to escape the MSF when they found her location, by transforming into a fox and throwing them off, just as one of the sly creatures would. She then remembered changing her appearance and going into town to remove cash from her family's savings account. When that was done, she remembered taking a bus to the airport and buying a ticket back to her home in Germany to the only place where she knew she could feel safe, with her best friend Alfred, who had told her in her letters of the fearful manifestation of his power, the teleportation. Upon reaching the large city of Frankfurt which was near the small town she lived, she remembered taking a bus to the town and then walking for hours to get to his house. She had nearly collapsed from it all on his doorstep and was lucky her friend had recognized her through the blue skin, red hair and golden eyes.

It had been Alfred who had taken her in with his family, and with him, who had comforted her; she had learned to get over that traumatic event of seeing her loved ones die. She soon found herself getting to know her friend again, after all those years of not seeing him and reconnecting. Somehow those feelings of friendship had wildly sifted at some point, and they had fallen in love. They were so close and things were so great for them, Alfred had gotten a full academic scholarship at 16 to a top university, and luckily her grades were good enough to land her in a good one as well later. When she was 18 and she 19, things got worse, while coming home one night from a long day at the university in Frankfurt, they arrived to his house to see it completely demolished and blown up, only left with a few charred remains. Upon entering, they found the bodies of his family and a note scrawled in their blood: "Freeing the gene pool of you mutant scum."

It was this that was the last straw that drew them to the secret movement at the local university, the secret Rebellion that had found its way into the hidden alcoves of the university. It was a rumor that the MSF had tried to find the root of, but to no avail. Using some hidden clues, they had found one of the safe houses and joined the Rebellion and sought its asylum in Canada. It was there that they met young Hank McCoy and with him were given the chance to make a difference, to work as agents posing as workers at one of the Three's labs in Germany and pass information back to the Rebellion. They braved their fears and moved back to complete the mission. In the chaos, Alfred and Raven had realized the preciousness of time and after losing their families, they realized that they may not have the time they needed to spend time waiting for until they were older to start one for themselves. They had eloped soon after joining the MSF, having Kurt soon after, knowing that they could only treasure their time together due to the circumstances.

Ororo knew that Hank was still heavily affected by what happened to the group that night in January, but was just dealing with the loss of one of his best friends a little better than Raven, who also had the worry of wondering if her son was still alive, as he had not been found in the woods, and secret security tapes had revealed him to be captured by the MSF.

She had first met Raven and Alfred when Hank introduced them to her when it was revealed that he would be infiltrating one of the Three's Laboratories with Raven and Alfred. She had become instant friends with both, and she too had been mourning for the loss of her good friend and she hoped and prayed that Kurt was alright for he had come to be like a nephew to him, and she remembered him calling her Auntie 'Roro. She first met Hank McCoy when she was 16 and he was 17, and had started having the beast urges and problems hiding his mutation in the university he was going to. When the blue fur and part cat, part ape like appearance had showed up, it had done so with him, going into an animal like rampage, trying to control his change and the fear from the experience. It had been terrifying to say the least. He had gone wild on campus, destroying property and terrifying the other students. Soon, it was realized to be a mutant on campus and the students and faculty started to retaliate by hunting him down, trying to hurt him.

Luckily, Erik Lehnsherr had been on campus at the prestigious New York located university and saw the carnage, due the fact he was visiting some mutant students secretly attending the university and finding out information on what the MSF was doing to recruit young people to their cause. He had called his colleague and longtime friend, Charles Xavier to come onsite and help him deal with the Beast. With Storm coming also and creating a flash rain storm, and Magneto creating a makeshift cage with his powers, they had taken the immediate threat of Beast and the mob away, while Professor X used his telepathy to quell the man residing in the Beast to calm.

It was without a choice that Henry McCoy joined the fight for the Resistance, but as soon as he came out of his funk, worrying about his appearance, and other problems, due to the beast within, he had found his calling in helping the Rebellion, with his skill in science. Thankfully, his genius had already allowed him to graduate with at least two degrees, so leaving the university was not all too disruptive to his career and learning. However, one of the main reasons for coming out from his rut, of self loathing had been Ororo and her teaching him that appearances really didn't matter and that he was still Hank McCoy underneath the fur and animalistic appearance. She had been warm caring and kind, possessing wisdom beyond her years, and really seemed to be able to match his intelligence as well as be witty and endearing. They became the closest of friends. He would later gain a position at the Resistance as one of the head scientists.

Later, he would realize that somewhere between the conversations on absolutely everything, laughing together, and spending time with the wonderful girl, he had found himself getting feelings for her, and little did he know that she felt the same way. For years they had hid that attraction behind close friendship, not wanting to lose that close bond, and also due to other issues and insecurities due to Hank and his appearance, for who could love a beast like he, not realizing Ororo liked his furry form just fine, and Ororo believing that she was inferior for Hank due to the fact that he seemed so much more intelligent than she, not realizing that he saw her as an equal, with greater intelligence, where it really counted.

It had been the harrowing event of their close friend, Alfred dying as well as himself almost dying that caused the two to finally admit their long held feelings, for they realized that life was short, and they had to live each day to the fullest, and that they had nearly lost something great before it began, to which Raven remarked, "Finally!" before giving the two her congratulations and a smile through all her pain. She and Hank, as well as Alfred's body, had been found several hours after their plight and getting shot, when the security footage scanning the area, found them. Unfortunately, it also found that Kurt had been abducted by the MSF. The two of them had been rushed to base for treatment, when it became clear that they needed better treatment to save their lives, they were stabilized and airlifted to the headquarters where they had much more advanced medical facilities. After hours of operation and Ororo completely in a frantic state over all that happened, both had awaken in the uttermost somber of moods. Raven had started crying and Hank and Ororo had tried desperately to comfort her.

She remembered that night, going back to the room where Hank and Raven slept to monitor their conditions, finally getting the nerve to admit her feelings for him. When she and Hank had finally revealed what they felt for each other, Raven had let out the loud and telling words, "FINALLY!" stunning them both, for she hadn't been able to sleep. She had then congratulated them and given them the smile, behind her grief.

"Morning all," greeted Ororo with a smile as she sat at one of the seats in the meeting room to meet with the most important members of the base at the moment. They exchanged greeting before Ororo got down to business.

"Recently, when we were able to crack into the surveillance feed of one of Essex's labs, located in the Mojave Desert, we found this," she started, putting a disk into the laptop that controlled the projection screen and bringing up the interesting footage that they had found.

It was a crisp black and white video of a man being dragged into a cell, a feral, angry, violent man who was fighting the guards the whole way, to make sure that it wasn't easy for them for all that they had done to him and his kind and a pair of small children as well. It was about three weeks old, but it was a strong lead.

"Oh, my stars and garters, it's Logan! It's Logan!" said Hank, saying exactly what they were all feeling watching the footage.

"The old boy survived after all," remarked Charles with a smile.

"Well, Charles, the man is a cockroach, after all," replied Erik.

"I thought—I thought that h-he was dead for sure after he was captured and from that intel we found on that experiment done on him," said Raven.

"Yes," said Ororo, happy to have found the old friend that they had thought long lost, finally, "it turns out that he escaped from the prison and lab after the adamantium skeleton was implanted, from our intel we found, they found him at a bar in northern Alberta, and brought him back to the labs."

"Remarkable," commented Xavier.

A year after Hank had arrived with them, before Raven had Kurt; they had found Logan when Charles sensed the completely animalistic man roaming outside their headquarters. Charles had sensed his confusion, his ballistic rages, the complete brainwash suffered from the animal side of his mutation taking over and had took it upon himself to help the untamed animal. He remembered roaming outside with Erik, Hank, Raven and Alfred to quell the man, which had been quite a feat in itself.

The group had gone above ground from the secret passage and entered the milky white expanse of the Canadian winter. The snow swirled all about and the land was blanketed thickly in snow, giving the trees that ethereal look. It had been grey due to the snow clouds out, with the sun a bright white splinter in the sky. They had trekked out to a flat expanse lined by trees on one side and hugged by a frozen river to the other. They had hid, watching as the man dressed in worn clothing, but mostly fur pelts leapt from a tree and began to hunt down an elk that had been in the clearing. He leapt into the elk so fast with his claws unsheathed, that the elk had no time to respond. The elk was dead instantly upon impact with the man's long silver claws glinting in the sunlight. They had watched fascinated as he preyed on the animal and eat it, as well as skinning it with his long claws. When the strange man had finished burying the elk much like a wolf would do to eat it later, they began to approach him.

Slowly and silently, the mutants approached he feral man and watched as his advanced senses caught them long before they were in his view. They heard him let out a angered growl before using great speed and agility to run up to them, to attack, for they were trespassers in his territory. He took a long running leap, about to kill them in the same way that he killed the elk. Beast pushed Magneto and Storm aside while Alfred, also known as Magician, (for his abilities to appear and disappear due to teleportation and the purple sulfur and brimstone scented smoke that emanated from it with a bampf sound) teleported his wife and Professor X out of the man's range. Soon a full scale battle erupted between the Wildman and the group trying to quell him. He was so full of rage and anger that the professor couldn't get a clear read on him to bring his human side to the forefront. The professor could see flashes and images of the man who was within the beast, but the beast was strong, stronger than Beast's, too strong for him to break it his current state of mind. It was a stalemate, they were getting nowhere with this.

It was Raven who came up with a risky idea. She told Alfred to take all of those back to the base except for herself and the professor. Raven had decided to transform into an animal state and appeal to the animal nature of the man to communicate, since human communication was lacking, calming him enough for the professor to quell. Everyone reluctantly agreed and soon Raven shrunk and what was left was a silver white wolf female. She approached the man unthreateningly, simply asking for his audience, appealing to the animal instincts she gained in the animal forms she took. She began to feel the feral man calm and soon the professor was able to delve into the male's mind and bring back the man he was to the forefront, alleviating the beast. The professor had then gained a piece of Logan's past and what had caused him to go wild.

Apparently, his love, Rose had been killed in an anti-mutant rally in which she was trying to help and save several mutants who were being beaten to death. Upon seeing her dead mangled body, he had shattered, his animalistic nature taking over. He had gone into a berserker rage, killing the MSF soldiers with such violence and fury. It had scared and shocked the human within, causing it to withdraw. The animal took over and fled to the wilds, traveling long and hard before it found suitable territory, just outside the base of the Rebellion.

"So we now have the location of one of their prison labs, this is a chance for us to liberate our fellow mutants and take out one of their facilities," said Erik.

"It's in the Mojave…" said Raven from viewing the itinerary Ororo had handed out.

"Yes, indeed," said Hank, "as well as find out how our old friend is doing, and what happened to him."

Suddenly, a knock and the sound of the meeting room opening interrupted their talks.

"Professor Xavier, Docter Lehnsherr, uh…me and Jean were wondering when the your next classes are scheduled, because the other kids are kinda getting antsy," replied 14 year old Scott Summers behind his ruby quartz glasses, standing next to his best friend Jean Grey.

"Yeah, they're starting to get a tad unruly," said Jean as well of the young mutants that were waiting for classes to begin. They were the only ones brave enough to approach the two 'dinosaurs', as they were called, even though Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr were definitely not that old. They were just over 50, yes, but could hardly be considered a dinosaur…

"Well, Scott, Jean," started Charles, "my next class is scheduled for 2pm in the afternoon, yourself, Erik?"

"I believe mine is at 11am, so don't worry, they'll be busy enough soon," said Erik with a warm smile.

"Alright, I guess we'll see you later, then," said Jean as she and Scott prepared to leave with their information.

"Goodbye," said Scott as he and Jean went out the door.

She and Scott had been best friends since they were 9 years old and had been found by Xavier. Jean's powers had been out of control, and her parents were completely frightened, knowing that their daughter was a mutant and not knowing what to do, but knowing that they'd have to run, due to the mobs and the MSF. Luckily, Xavier had found them before they took off, and offered them assistance, to which they gladly took. They soon found themselves living with the extended family of mutants, and non mutants in the Resistance. The non mutants were family members of mutants, or just people sick of the atrocities going on and wanting to do something against it. Scott however, had been an orphan and saved by Xavier when he was forced into blindness because of his mutation and wandering the streets. He had been terrified of his mutation and Xavier had offered him comfort and relief and given him the gift of sight again. Scott had ended up an orphan when he and his family were running from an anti mutant mob by escaping in an airplane that was owned by his father. Not five miles from their destination, the plane had mysteriously exploded in the engines, causing the family to evacuate, however, there was only one parachute left in the carnage, and only Scott and his younger brother Alex would make it on one because of their weight. Saying goodbye to their parents, they jumped, but would somehow be separated and it was only upon joining Xavier and the Resistance that he found Alex again. They were two such stories of how the two men who started the resistance had given hope and light to people suffering in the darkness.

"So, I believe we can deploy a group to infiltrate and destroy the facility, as well as free our captured friends as soon as possible," planned Xavier, "of course, we'll have to do so with secrecy, and above all, we must not allow any operatives of the MSF to be injured for it would only add fuel to the fire."

"Yes," agreed Erik, "it must be done cleanly and without bloodshed."

"We have tacticians already on it," said Storm, "and Hank, Raven and I will be part of the rescue." Hank, Raven, and Ororo had always done missions together when possible, so she knew that she wouldn't have to ask either to come on, although she was saddened that Alfred would never come with them again, just like she had been saddened when Logan had been captured. They had mourned the loss of a friend that wasn't really dead, it was ironic.

"Good," said Charles, "Raven, do you think you would be up to this? We could use your expertise and power, but I would understand if you still need more time."

"No, Charles," said Raven, intensity burning in her eyes, "I have to do this, if not for me, than for Kurt and Alfred. I need to get out and live again. I can't spend my life mourning. I've already done too much of it."

"Alright, if you're sure then, Raven," sighed Charles.

"I am, Charles," she replied with resolve in her voice.

* * *

**-3 weeks prior- **

"Welcome home, mutie," sneered a guard as he and others threw the electrocuted Wolverine into a cell identical to the one in Siberia. It was late at night, the moon was cold and waned in a small sliver.

"Uh," he groaned as he hit the floor painfully. It seemed as if the guards never tired of doing that to him. He took a good look around the cell after checking his body and noticed a small form huddled in tight ball in the corner of the cold cell.

Logan slowly crawled over to the form, after smelling the human scent from off the small body. Upon close inspection, he saw that it was a small, undernourished boy with coppery auburn hair, put into a drug induced sleep. Logan could sense the small boy begin to stir from his slumber. Upon the slow opening of his eyes, Logan noticed that they looked as if there was a grayish substance covering them, causing the boy's eyes to appear muted in color, but the grey substance was not the thing that shocked him. It was the color of the boy's eyes, red on black. He had gotten used to seeing strange eyes, but those ones had to take the cake. Suddenly, the boy became frantic, clasping his small hands on his eyes before freaking out.

"M' eyes, m' eyes, I can't SEE!" he screamed panicked, his breath hitching and his heart rate increasing. He began rubbing his eyes hard and compulsively as if it would bring back his lost sight.

"Whoa, whoa, kid, calm down," stated Logan, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, which only caused the panicked boy to frighten even more. The boy pushed away from Logan and began to cower in the corner, his body language conveying complete and total fear.

"Listen, listen, kid," started Logan soothingly, edging softly over to the boy, "I mean no harm. I'm a mutant, just like you. I was just thrown in as your cell mate, bub."

"Okay," whispered the boy, still scared for he couldn't see anything. Logan moved forward and tapped the boy gently.

"That's just me, I'm Logan by the way, you?" he asked, as he let the boy get used to his presence.

"Remy," he said slowly.

"Okay, Remy," started Logan, "I'm gonna take a look at your eyes, alright?"

"Okay," said Remy. Upon that, Logan placed Remy gently in his lap and gently pulled back an eyelid, seeing the grey substance over his eyes, very carefully, he took his thumb and index finger and began to pull the grey substance from Remy's eyes. It was strange and sticky. After working it a bit, he was able to pull it completely off the boy's eyes, seeing his strange eyes in all it's almost freakish glory for the first time. Finishing with one eye, he moved to the other, and soon, it was clean as well.

"You, okay, Remy?" asked Logan.

"Yeah," said Remy quietly, "I can see 'gain, t'ough it's still kinda blurry…you're really hairy, by the way." This caused Logan to chuckle heartily. God, were all kids like this?

"So how long you been here?" questioned Logan.

"A few months, I t'ink. Dey took m' from de orphanage in N'Awlins, one night," he whispered, "What about y'?"

"I was taken and placed in another prison before taken here," said Logan.

"Really, dat's good, y' didn't have t' spend as much time here," whispered Remy softly.

Logan sighed audibly, he was beginning to have weak spot for little captured defenseless kids, damn, and "It's bad here." It was a statement, not a question.

The young boy seemed to understand as he nodded slowly, pain and sadness of what he had endured in his young eyes, literally.

"So how'd ya end up at an orphanage?" asked Logan softly, trying to make conversation, but already having an inkling of what happened, just as with Marie and Kurt's parents.

"I'd rat'er not talk 'bout it," said Remy, turning away from his face slightly, still in Logan's lap.

"Well," said Logan, knowing that getting Remy to talk about it was probably best for him, "It's probably better than waking up in a forest with no memories except this half lucid one of waking up after having some shit done in a lab and destroying it during escape."

"Sure," offered Remy, now turning back to Logan and looking at him curiously, "Dey told m' dat m' parents didn't want m', because o' m' eyes and left m' at de hospital, after I was born. I lived at de orphanage as long as I can 'member."

"Yeah, so what'd they do to ya here?" asked Logan, not one to beat around the bush.

"Don't know, really, dey take y' and knock y' out, do some stuff, and y' back in de cell. It's de fir's time dat I wasn't able t' see t'ough," responded Remy.

"Great, it's even worse than the one in Siberia, by the looks of it," said Logan.

"De doctor running de whole t'ing does all of his more intensive experiments here from what I've heard de guards talking about," said Remy.

"How old are you anyway?" asked Logan, it was a bit hard to ascertain the boy's age, considering his malnourishment.

"Seven," said Remy with pride. _Damn. They really do take the young ones and do shit to them, _thought Logan, deciding to protect Remy then in the same way as he did Kurt and Marie.

"So it looks like we'll be stuck in hell together," said Logan.

Surprised, but amusedly so, he saw Remy let out a laugh and smile, "Don't y' know it."

_Well, this kid certainly has moxie, _he thought to himself with a smile. It was rare to see a kid like this who had obviously been horrifically abused, but still have the personality and liveliness that Remy had. He made an oath then, to protect him, and get the boy out, so that he should never lose that in him.

"I'll get ya out, kid, a personality like yours should never be destroyed by them," said Logan with determination and he had given Remy a piece of hope that he'd never had in his life.

* * *

Logan once again felt like a piece of minced meat. After being awaken in the middle of one of the doctor's experiments, he had been proded and electrocuted into submission for the doctor by the assistants. Blood oozed from many cuts and lacerations. He was heavily cut and bruised and wore the singed areas on his skin of one who'd been electrocuted and was still steaming as he was dragged back to his cell with Remy, still trying to put up a fight. His sensitive ears suddenly caught sound of screams, a fight, a beating of….Remy…Logan let out a great roar. The guards were once again harming his pups, and they should know by now that you never harmed a wolf's pups, unless they want to face the wrath of the entire pack. 

His energy was suddenly rejuvenated. He kicked and slashed at the guards, his arms still cuffed behind his back, but not making much of a difference as he still was bringing it to the men and women trying to restrain him.

A loud bam resonated through the long corridor of cells, a sound erupting from a gun the sent out a mechanism that would electrocute anything in it's path upon impact, that object being Logan then. He writhed and howled in pain, falling to the cold metal floor. The staff took no time in hefting up the stocky man and throwing him into the cell where a man was already brutalizing Remy. The cell doors slid shut mechanically, and all that was left in the room was Logan, the guard and Remy who had bit the man's leg just as he was about to kick him. For a little guy, he was a sneaky fighter. He fought through the beatings, always, just like Logan did. He liked that about the boy. Even though they were reduced to meaningless beings, the kid still had pride, like him.

"Why, you little brat," shouted the man, wincing as the teeth sank into his calf. He pulled Remy off his leg, blood was soaked through the pant leg slightly as Remy's teeth were pried from the man's leg, and slung him to the far wall, with a resounding thwacking noise.

The man then approached Remy menacingly, as the boy struggled to get up. He grabbed the front of Remy's shirt and hoisted the boy up to eyelevel.

"You think you can beat me, you little piece of shit," said the guard.

"O' course," said Remy, holding his head high, demon eyes burning in the dark.

This caused the guard to laugh, "Disillusioned, all of you, your precious Rebellion won't save you." He raised his hand into a fist, prepared to pound Remy's face to a pulp, the kid didn't even flinch.

Before the man could make a move, someone grabbed hold of hand, and wrestled him from gripping Remy and threw him to the far wall. This guard was careless, thought Logan, far more so than the other at the prison with Marie and Kurt. That guard had told his buddies to watch nearby, but let him handle things. Also he had given his key card and other weapons to his buddies, so that they couldn't use it against them. He only ever brought the electric prod with him all the times he hurt Kurt and Marie, unlike the idiot before him.

"It's time for shit like you to get what's coming to them," said Logan with menace as he stalked in front of his prey.

"I don't think so," said the guard smugly as he moved to get back up with his walkie talkie. Only, he couldn't for it was missing. He reached for his electric prod to find that it too, along with his firearms and ids were gone.

"Lookin' fer dese," said a smug Remy, smirk on his face as he displayed the utility belt holding all the aforementioned items in his small hand.

A look of fear crossed guard's face as Logan let out a feral grin, letting his canine teeth show prominently. He picked up the shocked guard by the front of his fatigues and slung him across the cell, hitting the wall hard and sliding to the floor. The guard moved up and got in a fighting stance, which only caused Logan to scoff. He began to pummel the guard with lightening fast punches, hooks and kicks. Within minutes, the man was a bloody mess. Just before he was about to pass out, Remy strolled up to the man and poked him long and hard with his electric prod. Blue streaks of electricity shot forward into the guard, he screamed and convulsed, steaming and scorched, before he passed out from pain.

"Serves de batard, right," he said, angry after being treated so badly for so long, forced to live in fear and cowardice.

"Amen to that," said Logan. Again, the boy's personality was simply amazing, given the circumstances, and he liked that. He'd rather burn out than fade away. It was obvious that he was from the streets, an orphan that stayed on the streets as much as in the orphanage and learned to eek an existence anyway. Logan could tell from the way the kid reacted to these situations and the way that he fought that he was no stranger to brutality, which was a shame. However, he was glad that he still seemed to have a fight in him, a sense or pride and honor and some hope, behind the cynicism. It didn't suit a boy so young to be so cynical. He really needed someone to care about him for once. Logan hoped he had steered him in the right path these few weeks they were together. He had to admit that Remy was pleasant company. He promised himself then, to take the boy drinking with him when he was older.

"Well, kid, let's get outta here," said Logan. He'd been here three weeks, and he was honestly ready to leave this forsaken place.

"Now we're talkin'," responded Remy, smile dancing on his features.

Using the electric prod and turning it on, Logan shorted out the electric field over the bars of their cell. Remy using his dexterity and flexibility to his advantage, maneuvered his arm to go through the bars and slid the keycard on the guard's belongings held in the utility belt through the pad. It beeped, then an automated voice asked for fingerprint identification, Logan, promptly slid the guard's hand through the bars and pressed it over the keypad, which beeped again, and asked for the final stage, the code to enter the cell.

"You're so lucky that I was half conscious enough to know the combination," said Logan gruffly.

"Whatever," said Remy with an excited smile. He was going to taste freedom again. The keypad beeped again, and the gate to the cell slid open with an automatic hiss. It was eerie, looking out at the other cells and knowing that they couldn't free the others there with them. They simply didn't know the codes, however, both males looked grim as they left the cell slowly and dragged the guard with them, unconscious. The other inmates understood though, they were a brotherhood, the abused. They each wanted freedom, but knew that they would have to get it without bringing others with them, due to the way the cells were built to foil that, however, they whispered encouraging words to the pair as they stalked to the transport bay in silence. Even if only two escaped it was a victory for all of them, they'd have foiled their captor's plans, and had gained a shred of hope. For Logan, he hoped that in saving Remy, it would prove to be the first step in keeping his promise to Marie and Kurt.

They made it past the long corridors without trouble due to Logan's senses, avoiding any contact with the guards and other security features such as cameras and such. Reaching the transport bay, they opened the entrance in the way that they had the cell and then stuffed the guard in a nearby storage closet, giving him a final shock with the prod for good measure. Logan had grabbed some extra fatigues stored in the closet and put them on, also grabbing a large camping backpack and put Remy inside, then hefting the object on his back. (A/N: Originally, Logan was supposed to slash open a vent to help Remy escape in their cell, but after some rethinking and such, it changed to what you see here. It just seemed to get unbelievable to have a seven year old all of a sudden be able to escape to New Orleans on his own, as would have happened if the vent was cut open and Remy crawled out of the base. I was gonna have him stowaway on a plane to New Orleans with the MSF, but became too bothersome…)

Remy and Logan hurried into the large room stalked with many different cars and automobiles. At one end of the bunker like area were many sheets and notices that the workers would use to keep track of the vehicles and who drove what car. Flicking though the cards, Logan found the guard's number and vehicle number as well as a spare key to the car, which was a rather inconspicuous mid size black sedan. Avoiding the cameras once again, the two hurried into the car. Both belted up, in case trouble arose and Logan started the sedan, pressing the gas and heading for the garage door. Logan tossed some jackets and other objects in the car at Remy to cover his appearance as the garage door opened with the key card. All they had to do now was pass through a gate large gate with a guard post and they'd be home free.

Logan pressed on the accelerator and then stopped in front of the guard post for the man to open the gate.

"Holy, smokes, what happened to you?" asked the gatekeeper.

"Some mutie attacked me, I gave him a beating though," said Logan in a low growl. He showed the dim guard his stolen ID and drove off into the night.

"Wow, dey're dense," said Remy as he pushed the items away from him.

"No kidding," said Logan as he turned on the GPS to get some bearings on where the hell they were, "usually happens, when they get cushy and think that they're superior.

After driving for about an hour, they came on to the main highway, leading to Las Vegas. A few minutes after, they pulled to a stop at a gas station. The two basically bought some food, using some cash in the car, and then hot wired a different car to confuse the MSF, as well as switching the license plate with another car. Noticing a van filled with a group of family vacationers due to a civic holiday, going into the gas station, they took that as an opportunity to pilfer some inconspicuous clothes, as theirs were ratty and worn from captivity. (The continuity is messed, I know) The drive to the bus station near Las Vegas took about two and a half hours, but it was done in style in a blue truck. They entered the bus station without much trouble, early in the morning and entered the ticket sales area.

"So where ya wanna go, kid?" asked Logan as the two looked at the places on boards.

"How 'bout N'Awlins?" replied Remy.

"Why? Isn't that where ya got caught?" asked Logan, not seeing his logic.

"Yeah, but it's Ash Wednesday t'morrow, well, t'day," he said. Logan gave him a blank look.

"Mardi Gras," he said simply.

"Ah…rowdy crowds, street parties, costumes and voodoo; the perfect hiding place," said Logan.

"But o' course, not t' mention open money," said Remy. He had learned that the best time of year to steal was in the heat of Mardi Gras, due to the mass crowds which made it easy to blend and the people being accustomed to the bumping of the crowds. Therefore, it'd be the best place to hide from the MSF.

Logan walked up to the ticket counter, while Remy waited on a nearby chair, watching some cards he shuffled intently, beneath a pair of dark sunglasses, all bought at the gift store.

"How may I help you, sir?" asked a young woman behind the ticket counter.

"When's the earliest bus to New Orleans?" asked Logan.

"That'd be the 5:32am on Station number 8, Bus 582," said the clerk.

"Then two tickets for New Orleans at 5:32am, please," requested Logan.

"Sure, that comes to…a hundred and twenty six dollars and forty-eight cents," she replied. Logan paid for the tickets and was about to leave, when his keen ears caught on to something.

"Are you sure they're here?" asked a masculine voice.

"Yes," replied a female one, "The surveillance and communications people found images matching their descriptions at a gas station a few hours away, where they found the car. So they've got to be here, to take a bus some place."

"Then how come we can't find them with the locator?" asked the man.

"That's because their X-gene and that allows their powers has become too advanced to locate, since the more advanced the X-gene, the more it blends with your regular genes.

Shit. They'd found them. Scanning the area, he saw two the two agents dressed as civilians that were talking softly. The woman was of average hair with brown hair and eyes and the man was tall with light brown hair and blue eyes.

Trying to look inconspicuous, Logan put his head down and pulled down his trucker hat slightly, obscuring his features. Reaching Remy's side, he hastily told him, "Listen, Gumbo, there's a pair of MSF agents over there in civvies, maybe more, who're already here, so we've got to be careful and I need you to follow my instructions exactly. Got that?"

"Yeah," said Remy, through his peripheral vision, he saw the two agents, talking amongst themselves near the wall.

"If I tell you to leave and get on the bus, do it, even if I'm not following, alright?"

Remy looked up at him seriously, he knew Logan was asking him to leave him behind if things got bad, "But…"

"No buts, Gumbo, you got that?" repeated Logan.

"Yeah," said Remy with a sigh.

"Good," responded Logan, "When you get out of this, no matter what happens, live a good life for all of us."

It was a simple request, but one which Remy understood. Live your life to the fullest because the ones like us don't get long to live it. "Always," he responded.

"If I die, do me a favor, kid?" requested Logan.

"Sure," said Remy, sadness pulling at his heart at what he had been asked to do, to leave the one person who had given him hope in that horrid place.

"Find a pair of kids fer me. They were in the prison in Siberia with me before I was transferred to Nevada. Names of Kurt Wagner and Marie," said Logan.

"And here I t'ought I was special. Okay, what'd they look like?" asked Remy with a smirk.

"Kurt has short blue fur everywhere with golden eyes, dark blue hair, two fingered hands and two toed feet, a tail and fangs," said Logan.

"Distinct," commented Remy.

"You have no idea, Gumbo," started Logan, "Marie has deep green eyes and white bangs with auburn hair."

"Cool," said Remy, "So when's our bus?"

"5:32am, in twenty minutes at station 8," said Logan.

He took most of the left over money out from his pocket, a ticket and food from his backpack and handed it to Remy, "Here, take this, just in case. The station is to your right, just outside."

Remy simply nodded in reverie and packed away the items.

"Let's walk over now, the bus should be in the station," said Logan.

"Okay," said Remy. Logan noticed that he had stuck to giving one word responses; it was obvious the kid was upset. He gave the kid a hug, one for reassurance, one for a possible good bye and for comfort too, and hope as well.

Logan gave Remy his hand, like any father would to their young son and for the first time in his life, he had a parental figure to lead him somewhere.

All of a sudden, Logan's ears caught on to words that sent a chill down his back.

"Over there, that's them! I know it is, look at the picture," cried the voice of the male MSF operative.

"Oh my God, it is," replied the female one. She reached for her hidden com device disguised as a cell phone, "Mutants found and on the move towards the exit to the buses, I repeat, mutants, found and moving towards buses. Request backup to apprehend."

"It's time to move kid," Logan said in a stage whisper as he and Remy lost themselves in the crowds to thwart the MSF operatives. They moved fluidly around the bodies swarming at the bus station. However, suddenly, an army of MSF agents swarmed in full gear and uniform and the two knew that they were surrounded. Logan pushed Remy and himself into a deserted corridor that leads to the bathrooms. It was rather drab, painted taupe, with benches and a few plants scattered about with linoleum floors. (If you've seen Ocean's 11, you know that 'they always paint hallways that color.')

"Well, Gumbo, it looks like we'll be parting ways," said Logan sadly.

"Can't we both jus' go together?" asked Remy, hope in his voice.

"'Fraid we can't do that, kid, they're onto us, and you have a better chance to escape them if I distract them," said Logan, "Besides, you've got your whole life ahead of you, a childhood ter live out. You deserve a chance to live a good life, kid, and this is it. I can't let you not get that, not after all the shit you've already been through."

"But-" started Remy.

"No buts, Remy," said Logan, "I'm old, older than even I think, I've lived my life the best that I could and can from what I remember about it. You're deserving of a life out of all this and I'm making sure that you gets that, and that at least one of you kids gets that chance to live properly. So do me a favor, Gumbo, get on that bus to New Orleans and find somebody to really care about ya, then take that chance for life and run with it, because some of us will never get it again. Live it to the fullest for all of us."

"Okay," said Remy, tears starting to water his eyes. It saddened him immensely that the first person to actually give a damn about him had to leave, so that he could live better. Well, he decided then, he was just going to have to fulfill his promises to this man.

Logan bent down and gave Remy a hug and told him, "Go into the bathroom and change clothes, alright, and then when the coast is clear, make a break for the bus, it leaves in twelve minutes. Good bye, Remy, and take care." He then got up and walked down the corridor, about to meet his fate, but a voice stopped him.

"Good luck, Logan," said Remy.

Logan gave him a smile and unsheathed his claws, "Good luck, Kid. I make it out of this, I'll look you up." With that, Logan turned his back and walked out, giving Remy a short wave before storming down the path busy with people.

In the bathroom, Remy could hear the short screams of fear as a man with metal claws in his hands went on rampage attacking the MSF. Remy hastily threw on a new black T-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. He shoved his discarded clothes back in the back pack and pulled on a baseball cap and a red hooded zip hoodie and made sure his sunglasses were on tight. Pulling out his ticket, he heaved on the backpack once again and hurried down to station 8 for his bus to New Orleans.

He pushed open a glass door to the curiosity of several people and ran over to the sign marked station 8. On the way, he saw many black uniformed men and women of the MSF running in the opposite direction to apprehend Logan. Most of the people swarming at the station remained unaffected as mutant captures in public places was commonplace in the world they lived in and business went as usual as violence and bloodshed was used to enslave a mutant.

He pushed himself faster as an intercom message sailed into his ears, "Bus 582, leaving for New Orleans will be departing in five minutes at station 8, At this time, please be on the bus for departure."

Finally reaching the correct bus, Remy asked the driver to make sure, "Excuse me, is this de 582 leaving for N'Awlins, sir?" The man seated at the wheel was quite elderly with a shock of white in his grey hair, but he was very strong and not frail in any way. His build could be considered slightly intimidating, but the kind look in his eyes wiped the intimidation away.

"Why, yes, sonny, you got on right in time. Take a seat and we'll be down in the Big Easy before you know it," said the man excitedly. Remy nodded and showed the man his ticket.

"So why are you traveling all alone?" the man asked the boy amicably.

Remy thought quickly and answered, "Well I was supposed to be going wit' m' dad t' N'Awlins to see m' mom, but he got really sick and it's really contagious, so he had t' stay b'hind. M' grandma had t' bring m' here, but she don' like crowds much."

"Ah, well, I hope yer dad feels better soon," said the driver. He had been duped to believe the classic ill will between divorced parents deal, thinking that his father was feigning illness to avoid seeing his ex-wife with his son.

"Thank y'," called out Remy as he took a seat near the back of the bus, moments before the bus began to pull out of the station. He let out a deep sigh for he was all alone again, with nothing but his wits to keep him alive and a few hundreds in his bag. Looking out the window, he saw many MSF agents and a gathered crowd watching in morbid fascination as Logan was electrocuted, cut, shot, bloodied, bruised and tranquilized with no mercy. The severely injured man was then cuffed and carted toward an armored van waiting in the wings. He looked away as the agents began to look for him, but not knowing that he would be long gone by the time they figured he was on a bus and not hiding in the nooks and crannies of the station.

As the bus took the final turn to pull out and start the first chapter in Remy's new life, he let himself look back to see the man who had given him a chance at life and smiled at him. Even in capture, Logan had his honor and pride; he fought, never making it easy, even in defeat. Little did he know that the scientists would soon change Logan into something of an atrocity, his former self.

Soon, the highway stretched on and Remy drifted off to sleep lulled by the humming of the bus rolling to New Orleans and a new start.

* * *

It was many hours later of the lengthy bus ride when Remy finally came home to his native New Orleans in full swing of Mardi Gras. The streets were packed with people of all looks imaginable in both costumes and normal dress. They were rowdy and wild and more than a little bit tipsy. As soon as Remy got off the bus, he trekked to the French quarter to do some…relocating of wealth… 

Walking down the crowded streets, the first thing that caught his eye was a beat up and worn chocolate brown trench coat hanging on a rack in a thrift store. He fell in love with it. Remy entered the small, but trendy shop and looked at the coat, it was perfect for stealing, with plenty of pockets and gave an aura of ambiance and mystery, not to mention a sense of inconspicuousness. Grabbing it, he tried it on, to find it was big for his small seven year old frame, but nonetheless perfect. Since buying it would raise too many questions, Remy simply slugged on his backpack and lost himself in the crowd of Mardi Gras long before the angry and gypped store owner ran out to look for him, earning a chuckle from the young thief as the man looked around swiftly for him.

He had not gone far, raiding pockets and getting a few treats, when he saw a rather rich looking man walking down the street with a strut and an open pocket displaying a thick wallet. Smiling at the easy lift, he cautiously and sneakily made his way over to liberate the wallet from its fabric prison. Nearing the man, he didn't make eye contact. Quickly, he stuck his had inside the pocket housing the wallet and clasped it tightly, but before he could remove his hand, a sharp grip clasped his wandering hand. Looking up in reverence, he saw the face of a middle-aged man, with graying dark brown hair and deep blue eyes that held a mischievous, youthful glint to them. He became frozen in reverie with the task ahead of him, but a shrill voice that sent chills up his spine, interrupted his train of thought.

"Mutie! It's the MUTIE! Grab it, hurry," cried the voice of a MSF operative. Remy looked around frightfully, fear clutching his heart, NO, NO, NO, he couldn't go back there…Suddenly, he was scooped into the arms of the man he had just tried to steal his wallet from. The man gently clasped his head and moved it into his shoulder, hiding his face and eyes, as the three operatives from the Mutant Strike Force approached the pair.

"WHAT DE HELL ARE Y' TALKING 'BOUT? M' SON IS NOT A MUTANT! HOW DARE Y' INSINUATE DAT!" bellowed Jean-Luc at the operatives.

The three operatives immediately recognized the man as Jean-Luc LeBeau, you did NOT mess with Jean-Luc LeBeau. They backed off and realized that the boy they had been after had not been wearing a trench coat, anyway.

"Our humblest apologies, Monsieur LeBeau, we simply spotted the wrong thing. Think nothing of our mistake," said the leader, bowing his had in respect of the man.

"Don' y' ever let m' hear y' insult m' son, again, y' hear?" breathed Jean-Luc venomously.

"O' course, sir," said the head operative as he and his men scurried off.

When they finally left, Remy breathed a sigh of relief and looked into the eyes of his savior, "T'ank y', monsieur," he whispered, amazed.

Jean-Luc smiled at him, a wide welcoming smile, "T'ink nothin' o' it. Jus' doin' what's right, besides, y' are a talent to which I have not seen in years." Jean-Luc had been watching the shadowy youth for some time as he performed perfect lifts on the unsuspecting celebrators of Mardi Gras. It simply amazed him that children as young as he had that caliber of pick pocketing. As a test, he had planted a trap to catch the boy. Somehow, he could sense the pain of loss from the boy, his liveliness, the need for guidance, and a family. And something was calling out to him to help the boy, especially after he saw a glint of those amazing eyes of his hidden beneath dark sunglasses. His wife was a mutant and the two of them abhorred what was going on in the world, so they had started a string of Guild run safe houses in New Orleans as a secret faction of the Resistance.

"From now on, mon fils, y' with m'. Henri always wanted a petite frere, now he'll have one," said Jean-Luc, knowing then that it just felt right to adopt the boy. Marianne would adore him, he thought and Henri will enjoy his company.

"Really?" asked Remy unsure if the man was lying to him or telling the truth, with wide puppy dog demon eyes.

"Really," replied Jean-Luc with a kind smile as he readjusted Remy's small weight and carried him to his car, several blocks away to welcome his new found son home to his wife, son, and Tante Mattie, as well as a plethora of Guild members and cousins. It was on this day, that he adopted Remy who would become Remy LeBeau, master thief extraordinaire.

* * *

He felt the hit of the injection almost instantly from the various tubes connected to needles stabbed into his beat up body still trying to heal from the beating he had received in the bus station. _Well, at least Remy's alright, _he thought as he quickly began to lose consciousness. He knew the boy had escaped due to the anger in the guard's attitude as they regarded him with distaste and the fact that he wasn't in any of the cells he saw from his. A table beside him was loaded with sharp medical implements as well as drugs to keep him docile. 

Currently, he was strapped to an operating table, sedated and half lucid to the doctors and scientists crowding around him, all getting instructions from a man in the center of it all, Dr. Nathaniel Essex. The room was cold, walled in white sterile tiles with metallic lab tables. There sat an operating table in the center. Many things were stored in the shelves and in tubes and chambers around the room. Drugs, operating instruments and other medical supplies were among the normal paraphernalia. The abnormal included the body parts stored in various tubes and containers in the room. Bright industrial lights were strewn up above in the room teeming with nurses, doctors as well as the head, Dr. Essex. They all wore pristine mocking white robes. This was one of the many research areas in the facility where some of the most gruesome and revolutionary experimentation and research was done on mutants.

Wandering off to slumber, he would not know what he would become from this current experiment until some time later. All he knew at the moment was that it was about a month since he first saw Remy huddled in the confines of their shared cell.

* * *

"The preparations are set," said Ororo as she, once again was in the luxurious meeting room with Professor X, Magneto, Beast, and Mystique. However, today they were also joined by those who would be partaking in the mission to rescue Wolverine, liberate prisoners, garner information, as well as destroy one of the many prisons and labs in the possession of the Three. The ones who would also be coming on the main strike included Angel, Psylocke, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Sage and Bishop, plus many others. The meeting room was packed, all seats were taken and the majority of the participants were standing. Some had come from the various bases set up by the Resistance around the globe, imported especially for this mission, for example, the influx of those with teleporting abilities and various other attacking abilities. They would do so with stealth and two strenuous weeks of planning. Tonight they would strike. 

Finally, they had found enough information for them to infiltrate and destroy the base, through countless hours of careful hacking and research. A foolproof plan was concocted with many human resources and hours of head banging. Supplies were stored and the machinery and jets were all prepped. Operatives for the Resistance were brought in from many other bases. They were many, well trained and the best of their fields.

Cyclops and Jean Grey were coming along as they were two of the best new recruits they had for the resistance and had earned their place on the roster for tonight's mission; as well it would be great experience for them. Scott was quickly becoming one of the best trainees and had a skill in leadership as well. He had the power to shoot optic blasts from his eyes. Jean Grey was a telepath as well as a strong telekinetic. She was also one of the most skilled trainees and had leadership qualities as well.

Angel and Psylocke were both around 19 years old, and by now were veterans within the Resistance. Both were children from rich, wealthy families, with unlimited power and influence. However, both their families were appalled by the mutant situation, so when they realized that their children were mutants; they found their ways into the Resistance to help further the noble cause. They helped by providing some financial help, as well as being able to gain information on some of the most influential members of the world who had ties to the MSF.

Both Betsy and Warren lived double lives of danger and intrigue, but they wouldn't have it any other way, for both had witnessed the deaths of good friends prior to joining the Resistance who'd been dear friends. Betsy was adopted by the Braddocks when her mutant parents had died in a plane crash and had been trained as a ninja in a way to be close to her heritage and her parents. She was a telepath and had the ability to use psionic blades. Warren was very much the Angel of his codename because of his wings. They enabled him not only to fly, but shoot sharp feathers that could cut through practically anything.

Sage and Bishop were both 16, however, they were both powerful and highly skilled and had earned ranks in some of the top teams in the Resistance. They were best friends although, now, it seemed something more, as both were orphans and had wandered the streets of New York together for years as mutant street children in hiding before they were found by the Resistance and given the opportunity to chance the course of their lives and others as well. Tessa had brilliant powers of probability, which made her an amazing tactician, and many facets of the strike had been planned by her. She was also a strong telepath and could create strong illusions. Lucas was a powerhouse and amazing leader. He could rechannel energy to give strength and endurance to his body as well as shoot plasma blasts, whether through his hands or amplified in his plasma guns.

"Tonight, we infiltrate the Mojave prison lab," started Professor Xavier, "We will take the stealth jets and land them several miles from the facility, then get there via teleportation. The first task is to disarm all telepathic shields, then create an illusion, making all workers go to the auditorium, where they will be drugged. Workers will then be cuffed and then moved to remote locales as we will have many drivers in unmarked vans of various teleportation powers. The workers will be stripped of all weapons and com devices. We will then cut off all power and communications in the base. It is then that other MSF bases will be alerted and come to investigate and attack, however, we will try to delay this as long as possible. Power negators will not be an issue as everyone will be equipped with a negator scrambler. We want to draw them into battle to analyze any new techniques they may have developed in capture and battle," He looked to Erik to continue.

"When all the workers are gone, it is then we will start an evacuation of all prisoners in the base and move them to transport vehicles to take them to HQ," started Erik, "Evacuation will be coordinated by Jean and Cyclops who will show the prisoners to the returning teleporters who will teleport them to the X-Jet, Blackbird and Velocity jets. At this time, myself, Storm, Psylocke, Angel, Bishop, and the rest of the Strike teams, dubbed the Brotherhood, Acolytes and X-Men will be defending the area from the attacks of the MSF all around the perimeter of the base in the agreed battle formations, moving all attackers away from the base. At this time, Charles will be inside the Blackbird monitoring the positions and stages of the various teleporters transporting people as well as our positions and keeping us in telepathic communication throughout the mission."

"While all this is going on," started Hank, "Young Sage, Mystique and I will be divulging the base of all its information in computers, files and other items. When that is complete, we will set the explosives in the base. Scott, Jean and any other remaining prisoners will be taken to one of the jets via teleportation. At this point, when all explosives are set and ready, we will give a telepathic message, and all of the Strike Force will be withdrawn through teleportation. It is then, we will set the bombs to explode and a teleporter will come in to take us back to the jets. The explosives will detonate two minutes after our departure and the base will be destroyed. The mission will then be completed and we will fly back to HQ, where medical facilities and such will be all prepared."

"You all know the schematics of the base as well as the details of the mission. The jets will all be nearby, but heavily cloaked by telepathy and stealth devices. However, if inside the base, be aware of this prisoner," Ororo spoke then, turned the audiences' attention to the monitor in the meeting room. It showed a various pictures of Logan at different angles.

"This is Logan, or James Howlett. I'm sure many of you will remember him and thought him dead. Well, we found him," she smiled; she could feel the hope swell in the room at seeing one of their comrades thought dead alive. It was times like these that made fighting in the Rebellion worth it, to see them take a small victory and turn the tides a little. Many cheered and clapped. Ororo held up her hand to quiet the crowd.

"We have received word that the Three, namely Dr. Nathaniel Essex have brainwashed Logan back into his primal animal like state to follow commands and be a violent, berserker style operative for their side. It is due to this, that many mutants have been taken in the past week in the Nevada area," started Ororo, "When evacuating the captives, beware of his rage, and stay away from him. Make sure he stays in the isolation chamber and drugged. He is a special case in which Beast, Mystique and Sage will rescue."

"Alright, if there are any questions, now is the time to ask, and remember we will be departing at 2200 hours, or 10pm tonight from the jet hanger. There we will take attendance and such, we ask all to be there at least 15 minutes prior to departure," finished Ororo.

The meeting was then wrapped up and the majority of the mutants left to prepare themselves for the mission that would take place in 12 hours time. Only Hank, Ororo, Raven, Erik and Charles stayed behind.

Hank sighed, "I really hope this works. We could really use that information and it would lift everyone's spirits to have so many prisoners freed and a base destroyed."

"Indeed," said Xavier, steeping his fingers and getting pensive. Recent events had not been good, the MSF had opened many new prisons, laboratories and work camps to imprison mutants, more and more soldiers had been recruited and trained, hundreds of mutants had been taken and the world wide impression on mutants was bad. If they were to get this small victory, the information taken would lead to many more victories, in which they would be able to save even more mutants and hopefully put a dent in the resources of the MSF and the Three. So much was riding on this.

"Hey now, we can't get negative," said Ororo, "We need to think positive so we'll be able to do this and we will succeed. We will save our brothers and sisters."

Raven and Erik nodded in agreement. "We have to have hope, that this will work and that things will go our way," agreed Raven.

"Yes," agreed Erik, "Come now, we must prepare, so let us take leave, and we'll see each other soon."

The remainder of the group left and went their separate ways to prepare for the mission. In Raven's mind, she secretly hoped and prayed that Kurt would be there, that something there would lead her to him. Little did she know, she'd get her wish.

&

Scott and Jean sat side by side each other in the scarcely populated Blackbird. However, they knew that would change once they had liberated the prisoners. Inside the Blackbird were seated members of one of the many Strike Forces in the Resistance that regularly performed similar missions of obtaining information and freeing prisoners as well as helping other mutants to survive, by breaking up riots and the like. The Strike Force faction in the Blackbird was the X-Men in which Scott and Jean were junior members. All the members of the X-Men were well trained, powerful and a cohesive team, just as the Acolytes and Brotherhood were. Betsy and Warren were also seated in the jet. They, along with Bishop and Sage had been taken from their regular posts to assist on the mission, to which they were more than happy to do so. Currently the Blackbird was being helmed by Xavier. (Just to let you know, the X-Men, Brotherhood and Acolytes will have none of the members that are currently in the teams on Evo. All of them are too young. I envision Scott and Jean to be the oldest of the group in the Resistance and the rest of them are now about Kurt, Rogue and Remy's ages.)

They watched in anticipation the scenery whisk by at high speeds outside through the windows in the Blackbird. They would land within the hour to rescue the captives. Riding in the Blackbird had been smooth and the stealthy jet would take less than an hour to get to the Mojave Desert locale where the base was located. However, this did nothing to quell the nerves and excitement of the two friends at the opportunity to help on the mission and actually do an important job, they were to be coordinating the evacuation and leading the prisoners to their teleporters to go to one of the jets. They understood the scale of this mission and only hoped to succeed, for if they did, it would show their potential greatness as well as help win a battle for the Resistance to which they so adamantly believed in.

They had been given high ranks for this mission and neither could feel more proud than at this very moment. They wore the black leather uniforms of the Rebellion which featured a red X outlined on the front with piping as well as red accenting and silver zippers and buckles in a jacket and pants outfit with leather gloves and boots to go with. Jean's long red hair was tied back in a ponytail and Scott's face was adorned with a futuristic looking visor to control his optic blasts. (Think uniforms similar to those in the movies.)

Their hearts pounded with anticipation to do something good to help others and give them the hope that the Resistance had given them in their darkest hour. And so they waited in anxiousness for the jet to land and the mission to start.

* * *

Three jets had landed simultaneously and invisibly in the dessert sands of the Mojave, where short shrubs and Joshua trees covered the landscape. One by one, vans were unloaded and teleported to locations near the facility. When they were in position, the first wave was teleported in around the perimeter, including Sage, Mystique and Beast, who all hacked into their systems to take down the security measures and disarmed all gun turrets and other weaponry on the perimeter of the base as well as disarming all telepathic shields. Those in place, the group of telepaths were brought in, including Xavier, Psylocke and Jean Grey. Linking their minds, they created a strong illusion in which all members of the base were lulled to the auditorium. Finishing that, Xavier was teleported back to the Blackbird to telepathically monitor their progress. 

They made all members sit and wait. A group armed with gas masks and sleeping gas was brought into the auditorium, when all members of the MSF in the base were brought in. They set up the chemicals and within seconds, all members of the MSF were gassed to sleep as telepathically making all of them sleep would cause too much work on the part of the telepaths and mass telepathically induced sleep could cause unwarranted side effects and brain trauma. The gassing group then bound all members of the MSF and stripped them of all weapons. Soon, all members had been teleported to vans around the perimeter and driven to various areas in the desert. That complete, the teleporters disabled the cars from being driven and ported back to the base to complete further duties.

Once this was complete, Sage, Beast and Mystique, who were currently raiding all databanks and files, as well as keeping other bases under the illusion that the base was still operational, cut all power to the base. This was done so that only the computers in the data area worked so that they could continue to raid data. At this point, all mutants of the Resistance strapped on night vision goggles that would enter and the rest of the group was transported to defend the others while the others freed their fellow mutants. Teleporters returning from driving off the MSF agents returned and helped Scott and Jean open cells and free the prisoners. This saddened many of them to see the sorry state of many of the mutants. They were all beaten and weak with little life left and hope. Scott and Jean made sure all the liberated mutants knew where to go to await transport to escape the base. Every now and then teleporters would disappear and reappear to take the many mutants to various jets to which the professor was diligently keeping numbers. They knew this would take a long time as there were just too many cells. Before moving onto the next prison block, the teleporters along with Scott and Jean made a detour to free any prisoners still in the lab areas which further sickened them to the conditions that these people were taken in.

Outside, an intense battle was waging between the MSF and the Resistance. The MSF soldiers had been drawn back due to Magneto's destructive powers of magnetism. Bishop was blasting through their ranks with his plasma guns, taking down any machinery and weaponry, not already compromised by Magneto's powers. Angel covered their backs from the sky, shooting down feathers whenever necessary. Storm made sure that aerial attacks would be made useless with her powerful tornados. Psylocke cut down any person that made it past their appointed line to avoid damage from explosion in the next while. The sounds were deafening, lasers and other weapons were fired, once bullets proved useless. Explosions sounded from grenades and rocket launchers, but still the Resistance was able to push them back as a unit with the help of the Brotherhood, X-Men and Acolytes. They were a cohesive team and with their powers, they were able to defeat whatever the MSF threw at them. However, they knew they were outnumbered, and when push comes to shove, they would lose, if the mission took too long to complete. For the opposition had far more numbers to replenish their ranks, while they had to make do with what they had. Their only choice was to wear them down enough and keep the numbers low.

They were doing well, though, and they all knew that this battle would be a way to learn from their enemy, just as everything inside the lab would be used for. It was an impressive display of power. Fire melted the metal, set the MSF on fire, and burned their supplies. Ice froze them in place. Water rushed at them and captured them in a watery prison. Roots grew from the ground and held tight to their limbs. Shots of lasers and other pyrotechnic abilities were used to strike down the opposition. The men and women were levitated and thrown. Land was ripped open and the enemy was tumbled inside, trapped. Their powers were truly monolithic. Even without powers, they were tremendously skilled for they were all very skilled and able fighters in more than one form of fighting. Plus, they could utilize all the weapons that the opposition used. And so, the battle waged on like this for the rest of the mission with our heroes succeeding their goals, minimizing all injury as well as analyzing the skill and technique of the enemy.

Back inside, two more cell blocks had been evacuated and Jean would scan the area for any left over with her telepathy to make sure that each block was empty before moving on. They still had seven more blocks to go. It was indeed a significant role that had been placed on the young shoulders of Cyclops and Jean Grey, but one they were most proud to do. The teleportation evacuation was in full swing and teleporters would alternate teleporting to the various jets with large groups of prisoners and helping Jean and Cyclops open cells with the other liberated prisoners. Luckily, the jets were large and had various levels of seating available for transporting all the freed prisoners.

"Is Block Four clear, Jean?" asked Cyclops as the red haired telepath scanned the area with her telepathy to make sure everyone was out.

"Yes," replied Jean, "Let's move to Block Five." The two then jogged to the next block with a handful of teleporters and junior members of the Resistance in tow. The professor had received word of another group being cleared and sent telepathic messages to all involved to let them know the progress of the group. Jean sent a telepathic message to those in the Cell Block updating the professor's stating that they were coming and that they'd be out of their prisons and freed soon. She didn't use her telekinesis to open the cells as that would use too much energy and there were just so many cells to open.

Reaching Cell Block Five Jean took a clamp and physically pried open a cell's gate containing a week teenaged mutant girl with many bruises and cuts on her body, a young boy with burn marks on his arms and legs and a young man in his twenties with large scars shown on his torso. Scott and the teleporters with them did the same. All were saddened to see the state in which these mutants had been degraded to. Jean bent down to help the weakened mutants up.

"Thank you," whispered the occupants of the cell.

Jean sent them a bright smile, and said, "No problem, just head to the end of the corridor, there. We have teleporters waiting for enough people to transport over to the jets. If you miss the trip, don't worry, we've got lots more coming." The imprisoned mutants then went over to the end of the corridor and Jean moved on to the next cell. Each block was three floors high with two sides and twenty cells housing numerous mutants in section; forty cells in each level. Scott worked the side opposite hers, and teleporters and junior members got to the ones above. A constant influx of appearing and disappearing teleporters with passengers were on the main floor's end corridor. They worked at a quickened pace, fueled by their desire to get to all of the prisoners. The few prisoners who weren't too weakened helped out in the gargantuan task.

Several long minutes later, Cell Block Five was evacuated and after making sure that this block was clear with Jean's telepathy, Scott called out, "Alright, team, let's move to Cell Block Six. Cell Block Five is evacuated," with a wave forward before leading the team in a short jog to Cell Block Six, with the cheers of the team in the freeing of yet another block, increasing the number of those they'd helped. The rescue in the cell blocks went on like this and after another two hours, they would finally move on to the last block, Cell Block Ten, in the massive prison lab that Essex had built in the Mojave. A battle was still waging on the exterior of the base, but they were not daunted, nor were they tiring for they were united in a goal to help their fellow mutants and because this was their hope, their future, and all they had to was win it. The facility once teeming with staff, doctors, nurses, lab technicians, researchers and more would soon come to a glorious end.

Meanwhile, in one of the inner rooms of the facility, Sage, Mystique and Beast were raiding the computers, filing cabinets and various other items of interest. Knapsacks were being filled to the brim, occasionally traded for an empty one from a teleporter. Discs were being collected and files were being downloaded, sent and relayed to HQ. They stole blueprints, hacked into encrypted files and websites as well as the secret network of the MSF through the computers. After a long, exhaustive search of the facilities and every information center it harbored, they were finally complete in their part of the mission.

This being done, they alerted the others and started to set a huge network of explosives wired from the inner brothels to the upper floors of the facility with explosives so powerful, it would obliterate the base completely once detonated. Just as they had completely wired about three quarters of the facility with explosives, they received a panicked telepathic message from Jean Grey.

'_The professor said you'd be the best to handle this,' _started Jean in a fearful tone.

'_What's wrong Jean?' _asked Beast.

'_Wolverine somehow broke out of his containment unit near Cell Block Eight. We're trying to hold him back, but he's too good and I can't get a good enough read on him with my telepathy to make him go unconscious,' _relayed the young telepath.

'_We'll be there momentarily,' _stated Raven, _'just contain him and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone. Don't try to attack him. Just stop him from doing damage to others.' _

'_Alright,' said Jean, 'I'll try to keep him immobile with my telekinesis until you get here.' _

'_Good idea,' _started Sage, already analyzing the situation, _'but before you telekinetically hold him, make sure, you're out of sight, so he can't attack you when you break the hold.' _

'_Thanks, Sage,' _returned Jean gratefully, _'just to let you know, we've also split our group into two to hold Wolverine and continue the rescue.' _

'_Good job,' _praised Beast before signing off.

"Well, let's hurry to Cell Block Eight," said Beast, dropping all of the explosives and wiring to the ground, Sage and Mystique following suit. They then sprinted to Cell Block Eight.

Minutes later, the three reached the evacuated Cell Block Eight where Wolverine was currently hovering two feet off the ground limbs pressed close together to immobility and growling angrily and loudly, just as Jean was finally wearing thin on her hold on Wolverine. Seeing the new presence in the room, Wolverine started to snarl at them with rage and anger in their eyes, but despite this, Mystique and Beast were happy to have found their long lost friend.

"Let go of your hold on Logan, when I say Jean, then you and Scott go help the others free the rest," instructed Hank to Jean who was hiding on the second floor with Scott at her side, giving her encouragement. Scott relayed Jean's understanding to them and Hank prepared to give them the signal.

In the meantime, Mystique transformed herself into the silver white female wolf that had once calmed Logan in his animal state. Approaching him with reverence and respect, she slowly made her way right in front of the man whose snarls had faded noticeably to be replaced with intrigue and curiosity.

"Now!" communicated Beast with telepathy from Sage to Jean. Jean dropped her hold on Logan who immediately fell to the floor in a heap and retreated silently to the next block to help the others free the remainder of the prisoners.

Wolverine slowly got up and advanced over to Raven's non threatening form in inquisitiveness. Her form quieted him and calmed him. His mind began to click and the animal side of him began to reduce a bit, trying to figure out why this creature fascinated him with its strange familiarity. Raven too advanced closer to the Wolverine who now gave her a slightly confused expression. He knelt down to her current height and observed her with great interest. He seemed charmed by her presence. Logan revered her ethereal aura with strange calmness and appreciation, keeping a small space between them, not touching her, caught in a spell of her mystique, staring into her jewel blue wolf eyes which seemed to hold all the solutions to the mysteries that surrounded him.

Seeing that his mind was finally cleared enough and that he was also tranquil enough, Sage subtlety entered his mind and broke through the fog of amnesia that had clouded his mind, inserted the first time he'd been taken by the MSF and the adamantium skeleton was inserted. She also reverted the animal that lingered to the forefront of his mind and pushed it back to its rightful spot in the recesses of his brain, bringing forth the man who was once Logan as well as James Howlett before being brainwashed by the MSF to be a weapon. The dark haired telepath also made sure his memories after the brainwash was intact and after several long moments in which Hank and Raven held their collective breaths, Logan opened his eyes and looked directly into Raven's eyes with recognition and happiness, to which Beast let out a happy laugh and congratulated Sage on a job well done.

Logan looked in Hank's direction and gave him a toothy grin, uttering a customary greeting, "McCoy, Misty."

Raven reverted to her human form at the same time Hank went over to the now dazed and tired man standing in profound silence next to Raven. Hank gave him a pat on the back; followed by a manly hug, once they gave each other a 'what the hell?' shrug. Raven followed with a strong hug and introduced Sage. At last, the reunion was cut short, when the effects of Sage's mind cleansing took it's toll on the man, and caused him to collapse.

"Well, my friend, looks like you could use a lift to the jets," said Hank just as a teleporter appeared to take Logan to the jet. His healing factor usually made it so that he was never this weakened and his friends took advantage of that.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up while you can, bub," said Logan. Mystique only laughed.

Logan groaned, "I'm never gonna live this down."

"Damn straight," said Mystique with a rare smile.

"Not a word the both of you," he threatened just as he was about to be teleported away.

"What's in it for us?" asked Hank amicably.

"Your heads," finished Logan, just as he was about to disappear, "not a word, you hear? I've got a reputation to keep."

"What reputation?" asked Raven, a spark of the old age banter reigniting within them.

"The one that's gonna come and rip ya ter shreds one day, darlin'," he said as he disappeared from view.

Hank let out a hearty chuckle, and Raven sported an exceptional smile.

"Good to see you smiling again, Raven," said Hank, "I've forgotten how entertaining the two of you can be."

"We try, we try," said Raven, "We once contemplated a comedy troupe."

Sage and Hank let out a chuckle. "So they're always like that?" asked Sage.

"Yup," said Hank, "C'mon, we've got a base to wire to explode."

"That sounds fun," said Mystique as the three of them trouped back to their supplies to prepare to finish wiring the base to explode.

About forty five minutes later, they were finally complete with wiring all the areas of the base for the maximum impact of explosion. Looking in pride of their job well done, they put in place the detonator of the explosives.

Sage sent out a telepathic message to Charles Xavier, _'Professor X, all the explosives are in place. Tell everyone to clear out. We await the teleporter to take us out and the command to set the detonation.'_

'_Good, thank you, Sage, I will send the word to clear out and to get all the combatants out,' _relayed Xavier.

"Well, it looks like we sit tight, until everyone's on board the jets," said Sage.

The three sat on the floor and awaited the message that they were to set the explosives to detonate and escape via teleportation from one of the many teleporters they had utilized this night.

In Cell Block Ten, Scott and Jean were the last to be teleported out of the facility after doing a sweep to make sure everyone who was once a prisoner had been freed. Outside, groups of mutants began to disappear within seconds of each other, thoroughly confusing those MSF operatives still trying to fight the superior force of mutants. When only Bishop, Magneto, Storm, Psylocke and Angel remained, Xavier gave Sage, Beast and Mystique the order to set the detonators for a two minute berth before explosion. Prior to doing so, a teleporter appeared at their side, and after hearing the faint beeps of the timer counting down to zero to detonate all the charges, they held onto the teleporter and disappeared, only to appear seconds later inside the control cabin of the X-Jet, getting ready to fly to headquarters with the hundreds of newly freed mutants. When everyone was safely onboard, two teleporters went out to the battlefield and retrieved the remaining fighters, further bewildering the MSF.

Once the final groups of mutants were safely seated in their respective jets, all aircraft began the launch sequences and a faint hum resonated through each of the jets. Just before lift off, a nearly deafening explosion was heard. The source was several miles away to the once gargantuan and technologically advanced prison. The occupants of the jets starred in awe, victory and pride as a large plume of smoke and flame encircled the spot which once tortured them so. The operatives of the MSF stared in shock as they finally realized the plan the Rebellion had so brilliantly executed. They had taken out the largest and most influential laboratory in their possession and with it, liberated hundreds of prisoners, stole countless banks of information and took a victory from under their nose for the Rebellion was good, very good at what they did. It was to be the first victory in a string of many that the Rebellion would win and for all those involved, it signaled a new age, one where it showed they were a force to be reckoned with and not to be underestimated.

Soon, the three jets took off into the star streaked night, never once showing its presence to the radar of any machine outside the ones in the possession of the Resistance. Quiet and stealthy with cloaking devices and telepathic hiding, the jets flew undisturbed for an hour before reaching their base, where crowds had gathered in the hangar to welcome back the heroes and the liberated mutants.

* * *

The three loaded jets had flown into the hangar and the Resistance Headquarters in Canada smoothly and after the cloaked doors had come to a close, and the jets hummed to stillness, a loud roar could be heard, which only crescendoed as the occupants exited, for the mission had been a high success and fellow mutants had been liberated. This would be the first in many to be known as the Summer Liberation. An excited crowd awaited the mutants on the outside once they stepped off the jets and into various medical areas for checkups that had been set up. Those who'd been on the rescue mission received thunderous applause, frenzied cheers and heart felt congratulations. For today they celebrated, for today, they had heroes in a bleak and dark time where all lived in the moment. 

Scott and Jean shyly accepted thanks and congratulations with pride and wide grins. Raven had a smile on her face. Ororo answered hundreds of questions with infinite patience, while Hank made his intellectual wise cracks. Tessa and Lucas were quiet, demure and stoic, but even they couldn't hide their happiness in the smiles on their faces. Warren and Betsy simply reveled in the moment in each other's arms, blissfully oblivious to everything else. Charles and Erik simply watched at the Resistance they founded together shared in victory and the collective happiness of it all, conversing of things to come and the future it held.

* * *

The white horribly blinding light assaulted his sensitive eyes, causing him to squint and moan. A few moments later, he began to distinguish several blurry shapes with his vision still swimming from the lights. 

A heavenly voice sounded in his ears, "Logan, Logan, you awake?" It was female, cultured and deep, with a hint of sadness clouding it.

Opening his intense blue grey eyes, he finally laid his keen eyes on the cobalt blue face of Raven Darkholme offset by her intense long red hair and amber gold eyes. She was smiling, what seemed to him one wrought of pain and sorrow. It was an attempt to forget something, some hurt. Her eyes told it all. She was sitting next to him beside the bed he was laying in, in the Med Lab. He also noticed some old friends in the form of Charles, Xavier, Hank, and Ororo.

"It's good to see you in the land of the living, my friend," spoke the seven foot tall furry lion like man who'd once looked more ape like. At the same time, Raven helped to prop him up on the bed and rearranged his pillows for him so that he could sit up comfortably.

"Hank, what happened to you? You look like someone pranked the Lion King," said Logan bluntly, raising a bushy eyebrow to the man's appearance, for the Beast looked more lion than ape now.

"This would be my mutation evolving. I fairly like this look. My arms don't drag on the floor anymore and my hair is way more manageable," said Hank, unfazed, with a wide toothy grin displaying his sharp teeth. He was accustomed to Logan's forms of greetings and bluntness. He wasn't insulting you; in fact, it just showed that he liked you enough to crack jokes with you. Those in the room shared a resounding laugh at their interaction.

"So what have you been up to, my feral friend?" asked Hank.

"Indeed, the last we heard from you we found out that you had been in an accident in one of the labs out there when they were doing that experiment on you, and by the Goddess, we thought you had died in the explosion that followed," said Ororo, "We tried looking, but we had old intel and by all accounts all evidence showed you were dead."

"I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I just know that I escaped the lab somehow after they bonded the adamantium to my skeleton, because the next thing I know, I'm in some forest miles from civilization not knowing who the hell I am," explained Logan, "It was the weirdest thing, I couldn't remember shit, it was like freaking amnesia. I got these brief flashes of memories. Speaking of flashes, one of them was your cue ball head, Chuck."

A bemused expression crossed Charles Xavier's face. He let out a small chuckle of amusement. Logan always managed to amuse him with his blunt comments.

"Well, you're going to have to thank Sage or Tessa as we call her normally, for bringing back your memories. She's shaping up to be quite the young telepath. She has some rather remarkable abilities as well," commented Charles.

"I'll remember that," said Logan sincerely.

"I took the liberty to scan your mind and reinforce everything in it as well, when you were slumbering," said Charles.

"Thanks, it's good to be back," said Logan.

"Well, now that we've all acknowledged that, could we please move on? I for one, would like to know what the heck you were doing all these years," said Raven, moving the conversation forward, showing her normal no fuss, sassy personality that had been lacking as of late. She seemed to be doing better now that Logan was back.

"Blunt, as always, huh Rave?" commented Logan.

"Well," she pretended to think, "Of course." This caused an amused scoff from Logan. It was good to see that Raven was still as sassy as always. She was kind of like him in that respect. It was one of the reasons that they got along so famously.

"As Raven said, we would all like to know what has been going on in your life after your capture, three and a half years ago," said Erik.

"Well, I woke up in the woods a few miles from the lab with only vague recollections of being in the lab and the experiment where they bonded adamantium to my skeleton. It was all in flashes and I really couldn't make sense of it. I was really confused. All I knew was that it was long and painful and looked to be like stuff out of a science fiction movie. Then some metal claws shot out of my hand and that just freaked me out. I had no sense of who I was, I didn't even know my name or any of that, it was like my brain was wiped clean. I think I nearly went insane right there and then. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't remember anything," explained Logan, sitting up on his bed to an attentive audience.

"I know now that it was the adamantium bonding process and that they had been planning to use me as a weapon through intensive brainwashing, torture, experimentation and training. They had been able to ingrain hundreds of different training exercises into my head through the brainwashing period. Only, I escaped once the final process had been complete, the adamantium bonding. The pain and trauma during the process caused my mind to relapse and basically protect itself by wiping it blank. Once the process was complete and I was put into artificial rest, my body kicked in as a defense mechanism and got me the hell out of there. Anyway, back to the story," he mentioned.

"Eventually, I had enough of wallowing in confusion and began to forage for food, and to my surprise, I was actually good at it. I was damn good, it was as if I had an instinct for it like an animal. It really confused we, it was like I had an animal within me. After a few weeks of living in the forest, I decided that I needed human contact to figure this out. I picked a direction where I could smell exhaust and ran with it. I came to a highway, after a day or so and following it, I found a sign that read, Banff town site, 2 km. (Banff, Alberta, Canada. It's totally beautiful; it's a national park with a small, and I mean small town. It's super tourist land, but there's just some really great wilderness and what not. The town is surrounded by forest, and is inhabited by tons of animals. So I guess it'd be the perfect place to hide a base. It's really rocky, and near the border of Alberta and British Columbia where the Rockies are, and the windiest twistiest part of the Trans-Canada, so it has limited access. So basically, it's in the middle of no where, but still close enough to the necessities, even with tons of tourists. The base is a couple miles away from Banff though and is heavily cloaked, so wildlife people can't find it.) I landed myself in tourist ville," said Logan.

"To say that it probably wasn't a good place to start looking for an answer is an understatement," he started, "I think I interrupted quite a lot of people's vacations. People thought I was a Wildman or something, that or just some poor street bum mooching off rich tourists, either way, I was given quite a nice amount of cash and after getting some clothes to blend. I was eventually told to go to the Parks Canada Office (It's sort of a historic building that is an information center that gives you criteria and information for hikes, attractions and what not, as well as some necessities) on Main Street. After being thought an idiot and insulted and what not, a passing doctor passed me, and started to examine me, telling the people in the office, that he was quite sure that I had amnesia."

"A park ranger questioned me, and eventually they figured that I had been one of the hundreds of unchecked hikers that pass through each year, seeking adventure and don't sign in to let them know where they'll be going, so they can sneak off trails and do hazardous stuff in the dangerous areas. They figured, I must have fallen somehow and gotten amnesia after wandering off the areas and camping illegally in the park (They have tons of guidelines for hiking and what not at Banff because it's also a wildlife reserve as well, it's like Yellowstone National Park, for you Americans) as I was way off any trails from what I had told them. They told me I was lucky to be alive and taken to a doctor's place to be checked up. I found out that the amnesia I had was most likely permanent," explained Logan.

"I stayed in Banff for awhile, working odd jobs and such to pay the rent and what not and eventually, I got back on my feet and moved on from it and started riding around after getting my bike and trying to get some answers," said Logan, "In time, I came to remember brief flashes of my previous life, those being your bald head, some World War II stuff, running rampant in an old forest, a Japanese woman's face from around the 1900s, some really old Victorian style mansion in the middle of nowhere and a woman with red hair and blue eyes and just some other things that I couldn't make sense of. Those were the memories I could make most sense of. Everything else that I saw was so strange. The only reason I was able to know that my name was Logan was due to a pair of dog tags I had on. One with the name Logan, the other with the word Wolverine," he told.

"Rose and Yuriko, your time in your animalistic state, the war, your original home in BC, and Charles?" stated Raven.

"Yeah," agreed Logan, "I just basically hazarded a guess and took Logan as my name," he recalled, "After that, I just went where the wind took me, for about three years, just going around the States and Canada, seeing where it all took me. I never really stayed in one place too long since the trails got cold, and no matter where I searched, I couldn't find anything. It was frustrating to say the least. And that's what I have basically been doing for the past two years, checking up leads. That, and helping out whenever I could with the stuff goin' on."

"I came upon a veteran's place a few months ago, looking to catch a drink and this guy wound up showing me his dog tags and I his. He was in the Vietnam War, and knowing what he did, he figured, I got the tags from my dad or something like that and that they were from World War II. I later found out, after some digging, that they belonged to a man named James Howlett, my real name, but I didn't know that at the time. So basically, after that, I began wandering around the US, getting info on the man, and then that lead me to Canada. So for the past while I've been traipsing through Northern Canada and the cage bar matches for cash, heading to BC to find a lead on the man. I was in Fort McMurray, when I was taken by the MSF at a bar, making my way to BC," he retold.

"I would wind up in the prison labs, for, I guess, three four months. I was first in one in Siberia, and then I was transferred to the one in Nevada. Helped a kid escaped in Nevada. Fun times," he finished with, "and that, I guess would be the short version of what the hell's been going on in my life for the past three and a half years." (I realized I didn't put in any Wolvie accents…but I'm not changing it…too hard)

"Interesting," commented Xavier, "A lab in Siberia, you say?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Logan.

"From most of the research that we found from the stolen intel during the mission, we found that the majority of test subjects that they took were mutant children. We're planning to hit that one next as it enlists our highest concerns, but I can't understand why they would want you there," puzzle Xavier.

"Well, bub, I don't remember much due to the drugs they pumped in during the experiments which got me doped up higher than the sky and even less lucid, but I think they were trying to use my DNA to combine it with the kids' to try to give them a healing factor and what not, to see if they could insert DNA from one mutant to another. I guess they figure with my healing factor, my blood would be accepted and not rejected in a transfusion or what not," said Logan.

"Still, it's puzzling to me. It doesn't make sense as to why they would put you there," said Xavier running the plot through his head.

"Wait, Charles," said Erik, "We received intel that Essex had been in a European or Asian lab spearheading some newfangled experiment a few months back, but we were never able to find out more. That base was just too well hidden. But what if the Siberian base was the one where Essex was located. It would make sense then, since Essex had also been the head scientist in the experiment to make Logan into a weapon those years back, with the adamantium skeleton being one of the factors of it. He was after all, the only survivor of the accident where Logan escaped. What if he moved Logan to Siberia, where he was located so he could work on two projects at one time? The children mutants and rebuilding a weapon that he never got to complete in the Weapon X Project. I mean we all know how obsessive he is about finishing projects…"

"Old friend, you're always able to see what I miss," said Charles with a smile.

"Only because you look in the complexities and forget the simplicities," rebutted Erik with an equal smile, "Of course, once he finished with the main phases of that project, he moved on to a larger one at the facility we destroyed in Nevada, based on the intel we collected, and moved Logan there too, to continue his old Project, Weapon X, where he brought you into the animalistic state for better control over you."

"Of course," started Storm, "It all makes perfect sense. He must've been thrilled once he realized he had found you again and could restart his Weapon X Project to help Stryker's efforts with the Mutant Hunting Division of the MSF." The Three worked in interrelated projects. Essex handled the scientific research, development and experimentation on mutants in the labs. Stryker handled the Mutant Hunt by developing, training and overseeing all MSF operatives, specializing in torturing mutants in labor camps. Trask handled all technological advancement to further the obliteration of mutants.

The room was sterile white and metallic. It had white tile on the floors and walls, with steel frames shown every now and then. Medical equipment was organized neatly in the room and a small bathroom could be seen in the corner. The relatively small room housed a small bedside table and several seats and benches for visitors, and there were plenty of those in his room, currently. The bed he lay on was definitely more comfortable than the usual hospital issue ones, even though, it looked exactly like one.

(ARGH…I'm so pissed. My computer decided to get a virus or something or rather and crash tons, so now, I'm working on my fics on my mom's laptop. We're probably gonna have to take in to shop. But no worries, I just uploaded all my story files into my mom's laptop and away we go. The continuity might be messed here a bit, because at the time, I didn't have the stuff I typed previously to work with as the computer is pissy. So this part, is relying on my memory…Sorry if it sucks, I'll try my best…)

"You seem to be one hot commodity," said Hank.

"Thanks for making me sound like an inanimate object," deadpanned Logan. (This would have to be inspired by the 'Sidney Crosby' lottery. He's a hockey player who's the number one draft in the NHL, so the Canadian media was all over it…'The Sidney Crosby' lottery, that just makes the kid sound like an inanimate object and it totally bugged me and made me LMAO.)

"I try," said Hank. Everyone laughed.

"Well, my patient here needs rest after the influx of memory. As the Professor told me prior, his mind needs to heal and process it all, so out all you visitors, it's passed visiting hours," shooed Hank, the doctor taking over. He waved a large blue, furry paw. As everyone began to leave, saying their goodbyes, one last thing, bothered Logan.

"Hey, Rae, is Alfred in Germany? I haven't seen him around," Raven was the last to head out of the room and immediately tensed, to the confusion of Logan.

"Are you gonna be alright, Raven?" questioned Ororo.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, he was gonna find out one way or another, and this way, I'll be the one to tell him. Go on, I'll see you later," answered Raven with a sigh and a saddened voice, "Hey, Hank, can you leave us for a few minutes?" wanting to tell Logan in private.

"Sure Raven, if you need anything, holler, I'll be just outside in the main lab, kay?" said Hank, putting a large comforting paw like hand on her shoulder before heading out.

"Thanks Hank," said Raven, shooting him a look of gratitude as he and Ororo stepped out to meet Erik and Charles.

She sighed and took a seat beside Logan on his bed, trying to put into words all her pain, suffering and torment, but couldn't, the grief and sorrow suffocated her, and all she could do, was show Logan that in the look of anguish in her saddened eyes. Ororo and Hank knew she had to let it all out and tell somebody, they just hoped that Logan would be that person and succeed where they had failed.

"So what happened?" asked Logan, already inexplicably knowing the answer.

Raven's eyes began to water and tear up, but she wouldn't cry, she'd already done enough of that for a lifetime.

"Hey, Rave, it's okay," he said, taking her hand in his, and squeezing it lightly, giving her a small measure of comfort. Raven gave him a small smile and nodded.

She took a few calming breaths and knew she had to tell Logan, as much for herself as for him. Raven needed to tell someone of her heartache because it was eating her inside for she hadn't been able to confide fully in anyone else and those closest to her knew it too, but they didn't know how to press the issue, without hurting her further for she was in a delicate state. Her strength was hanging by a fragile thread and it was nearly completely worn, preparing to break at any given moment.

"Almost six months ago, in January, we had been living under cover in Germany, passing on intel to the Resistance as we always had with Hank too, working at the somewhat normal research lab the Three ran there. One night, Hank comes and bangs on our door, telling us that he thought that the MSF were onto us and to back our bags. We left a few minutes later. For what seemed like days, we wandered our way into the forests, finding our way through to get to the base," started Raven.

"It was night and it was so dark. The snow had been falling hard…." It seemed that she was reliving the horrible moment as her eyes glazed over and her voice became monotonous, "We had reached the part near the base where it was a clear meadow, with no protection where you were sandwiched by the mountain face and a river. The four of us had stuck close to the mountain and tried to inconspicuously walk past it, only we knew we were being tailed, when we heard the compression of snow by boots and the sound of twigs snapping. They were playing with us, taunting us, before we were to be hunted like animals. So we ran, we knew we wouldn't get a chance if we didn't."

Tears began to stream down her face as she reached the hardest part of her story. Logan wrapped his arms around her, trying to give her the strength to carry on and get it all out.

"There was a…a gunshot that rang through the air, and I turned around, Kurt in my arms…and…and Alfred had been hit, straight through the throat. A bullet was lodged there. He couldn't breathe….he was dead instantly…He was…dead…Oh God, he was dead. I never got to say goodbye….and…and Kurt…he just kept on asking him to just wake up…but he wouldn't…he never would…" her voice had gotten high pitched and hysterical and tears were now pouring down her face rapidly, sobs wracked her body and she spoke between them in uneven breaths, crying against Logan's chest as he enveloped her in a strong embrace, trying to lend her some semblance of reassurance, as disturbed look on his face, as well as anger and fury to the MSF for yet another crime.

She continued her story in sobs, "H-H-Hank had to…he had to help us away from Al-Alfred's body and k-k-keep us moving….'cause we were out in the open. W-W-We started running, so fast…bu…but Hank got shot, carrying Kurt. He handed Kurt to me…and told me to go, to run…H-Hank was shot three times…I thought he was dead too…I ran so hard, for so long…I-I tried SO hard…but they shot me…and I went down. I-I told…I told Kurt…t-to run and he did. T-Th-That was the last time I saw him…I don't even know if he's okay anymore…W-We never found him, Logan, Oh God, we never…never found h-him…Th-they took him…and I can't find him…I can't find Kurt, Logan…I-I don't even know if he's alive…and it's hurts…it hurts so much…Alfred's gone…and I'm so afraid that Kurt is…that Kurt's gone t-t-too. I just…just can't handle it if he was…"

He looked at Raven's prone form and began to see something familiar…Something began to click in Logan's memory as he held Raven as she sobbed and let out all her pent up emotions finally…He remembered a baby boy, with short blue fur, and downy indigo hair, and sweet golden eyes, with a fanged smile, which only widened when he wrapped his small three fingered hands around your finger or caught his tail in something he wasn't supposed to and his tiny two toed feet would always be in motion…Kurt…Kurt Wagner…He remembered. Oh God, he remembered.

"Rae," he started, but Raven didn't answer, her pain taking over. And Logan knew that he had to give her this hope. She had lost so much and he knew he had to tell her.

"Rave, Raven, listen to me," he shook her gently, but Raven was lost in her anguish that she had to let out.

"Misty," he said finally. As if they were magic words, Raven's sobs faded and she moved her face from his shoulder, looking down, her eyes still spilling out tears. He lifted her head, by putting a finger underneath her chin and tilting it upwards.

"Listen Misty, Kurt's still alive," he said finally.

"WHAT? How?" questioned Raven, nearly jumping at the Wolverine, not wanting to give herself false hope.

"Up to about a month ago, I was still in the Siberia lab, where all the kids were. Raven, he's there," he told her gently.

"How do you know?" she asked, hoping against hope that this was true.

"I shared a cell with him, and a little girl named Marie for five months. They're holding on, that's for sure," said Logan.

"How is he?" she asked, hope now bright in her once dead eyes.

"Holding on, not much else you can do in there, Misty. Not too much I could do when the guards came around," said Logan, angrily.

"B-But's he's alive," she said.

"Yes, if he's still holding on, after a month," answered Logan carefully.

"Thank you, Logan, for everything," said Raven.

"No problem, Rae," he said.

"Tell me about him, Logan…you said he was with a little girl?" requested Raven, wanting to know about her missing son, trying to fill a little of that void before she could find him.

"Yeah, her name's Marie and she's from Mississippi…" started Logan recounting his time spent in the prison with the two of them.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, Raven and Logan rekindled the bond and close friendship that they had once shared before he had disappeared, spawned over the grief of a close loved one. They got close, and Hank and Ororo noticed especially, and knew that albeit reluctantly, Raven was finally moving on, thanks to Logan. He had given her hope and taken her from her despair. 

The Resistance had taken a few more victories by using the intel raided from the lab in Nevada to get information on other prisons around the globe. They had planned some more successful strikes, often striking bases at the same time to throw off the MSF who were now scurrying around in high alert, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, but to no avail, as the Resistance had the jump on them, and they would not let up or give them time to plan and strengthen themselves.

Resistance bases all over the globe began to fill up as more mutants were liberated each day, joining the fight. Some decided to stay in the bases and live in the housing units inside, while others chose to live top side and form safe houses and such, creating a bigger network for the Resistance to work with to reach their goals. In this way, the Resistance began to blossom and become even more secretive. Bases were in the beginnings of expansion and new minds increased the ingenuity and technological advancement of the Underground Resistance X.

Tonight, they would finally make a strike on one of the larger prison lab facilities. One of Essex's known stomping grounds, the one in Siberia would be freed tonight and so would Kurt and Marie, at last. Raven was anxious. The flight to Siberia couldn't be fast enough. She was finally going to rescue her son and be reunited with him and meet the little girl he had bonded with, Marie. It was now late June and she was closing on six months away from her son. She had died a little in that time, and she would only be able to move on with her life when she finally had him home with her. Currently, they were in a small hidden base in Siberia, refueling and running over the plan for that night, which would be similar to the one they had used to take the first base. They only bought one jet with them, as this base was significantly smaller. The Blackbird would do the trick. (I know I made the Velocity a jet when it's in actuality a helicopter…)

* * *

The cell, as usual, was cold, dark, damp and cramped. Kurt and Marie were huddled in a corner, similar to what they've always done, before Logan. They missed him terribly. He kept the cold away at night, as well as the guards from hurting them too much, talked to them, gave them hope and supported them. The black metal walls were bare and lifeless, telling the story of pain and torment. The small bathroom was dirty. Ragged clothes hung off their small emancipated bodies, trying to cover the bruises, cuts, abrasions and other injuries. Marie's wrist was swollen, bruised, turning purple black as definitely sprained. Kurt's foot hurt badly, and a large cut was still healing on it. It was possibly infected for it swelled. And no matter what they did, it didn't seem to get better. They had cleaned it the best they could from the water that ran in the sink, but it was dirty and wrapped it in a rag. Currently, they were trying to sleep, warding off the cold with their worn red blanket, but it wasn't really working for it was like the MSF poured out ice cold air conditioning on purpose. 

They were talking quietly; trying to ward off the loneliness, pain and suffering, and holding each other close for warmth. Suddenly, they heard a kind grandfatherly voice inside their heads telling them, _'Hello, children, my name is Charles Xavier, do not be alarmed, for you will all be out of here soon. My people are coming to help you. Please stay quiet for us. You are all very brave.' _

"W-What was that?" asked Marie, frightened.

Kurt gave her a wide grin, "It's Professor Xavier, he's gonna get us out. He found us, Marie, he found us, Ve're getting out."

Marie simply gave him a smile in return, remembering all that Kurt had told her about his life with his mom, dad, Dr. McCoy, Auntie 'Roro and Dr. Lehnsherr and Professor Xavier. She knew then that it would all be okay.

All of a sudden, the power went out in the entire facility, causing Marie and Kurt to jump in fright, they clung to each other for comfort. The only thing that could be seen was the yellow glow from Kurt's eyes. Soon they heard the noises of running sounding down the metallic corridors. It was the noise of several heavy boots clanging down the halls towards them, except they were heavier than the boots that the guards wore. What was going on?

The noises grew closer and closer and then several mutants could be spotted running into view. They told them not to worry and that they would be breaking them out soon enough. The gates to the cells were forced open and the children were picked up and herded to the end of the corridor where waiting teleporters would take them to the jet. Marie and Kurt grabbed onto the bars of their cell and looked out to see all that was going on, since the electricity was out, no electric shock would be given by holding onto the bars, a look of hopeful awe was on their faces. Flashlights threw beams of moving lights everywhere. The sounds of clamps forcing open gates could be heard and the encouragement and kindness of their liberators.

After waiting for a few minutes, they were greeted with a familiar sight, only this time, he wasn't dirty, bloody, sizzling or embroiled in a fight, he was walking confidently with pride down the hall towards them, a smile on his features. He wore a leather jacket with red detailing and a sewn in X as well as special gloves, black cargo pants, a thick utility belt and thick clunky, biker like boots. Foot long claws erupted from his hands as he approached the cell which held the two children he had bonded with so much in their captivity. It was Logan. Wide smiles now passed across the faces of Kurt and Marie.

"I told you I'd get you out," said Logan with a grin, "Move away from the gate." And with that he ripped the cell gate off the wall, now that it didn't have an electric current running through, he didn't have to worry about getting sizzled. Finishing that, he tossed the deformed gate to the floor where it landed with a loud clang.

Marie and Kurt then ran to him and gave him a big hug, whispering their thanks. Logan returned their embrace. Then, he turned to Kurt.

"Hey, Kurt, I brought someone with me for you," he stated with a mysterious smirk.

To this, Kurt gave a look of confusion, only to be replaced by one of utter joy as he noticed a figure round the corner and step into his cell. It was his mother.

"Mozher," he shouted extreme jovialness in his voice. Ignoring the pain in his injured foot, he released himself from Logan's embraced, causing a chuckle from the stocky man, and ran as fast as he could into the waiting arms of his mother. They held on tightly to each other, letting out all their emotions in a few well deserved tears.

"I missed you so much, Kurt. I love you," whispered Raven softly.

"I love you too, Mozher," returned Kurt.

All the while Logan held onto a confused Marie.

"So that's his mom, huh?" she said.

"Yeah Stripes, that's his mom," concurred Logan, picking her up.

After a tearful reunion, Raven made her way to Logan and Marie, Kurt in her arms, wanting to meet the little girl her son had bonded with.

"Hey there, sweetie, you must be Marie," said Raven with a smile.

"Yeah," said Marie shyly.

"You're a sweetheart, you know that?" said Raven. The girl shook her head, causing the soft curls in her hair to bounce.

"Well you are," said Raven, giving her a kiss on the forehead. And Raven Darkholme knew then, that she had a daughter. After all, she knew from what Logan had told her, and what she had seen so far, that Marie was indeed Kurt's sister. Raven also knew that she loved her, her heart which had been broken so by Alfred's death, was finally starting to love again for it had warmed to the little girl in Logan's arms.

"Let's get outta here now. This is the last cell block and it looks like we're the last ones out. Chuck gave the signal," said Logan.

"Right," said Raven, making her way down the corridor with Logan, Kurt and Marie snuggling into their arms. When they made it down there, they were indeed the last ones in the block to exit. A waiting teleporter soon took them onto the jet. Soon, the detonator was set, and when Sage and Hank made it into the jet, they knew it was mission complete for they had set the bombs and other explosives. Ororo, Erik, and Lucas had returned earlier with a group of attackers after distracting the MSF agents, while the others freed the children.

Logan and Raven found two empty seats side by side and belted themselves in with Kurt and Marie sleeping in their arms. The other mutants in the jet did so as well and just before takeoff and resounding explosion could be heard, signaling the end to the captivity of Kurt and Marie. And then, the engines powered up and with a powerful thrust, the jet took to the air, shooting at hundreds of miles per hour to the larger German base to replenish supplies, take care of the children's injuries and refuel, before heading back to the headquarters in Canada.

* * *

"She's a sweet one," said Raven, brushing a snow white lock of hair behind the girl's ear. She and Logan were watching as Marie and Kurt slept in their arms as they streaked across the sky in the Blackbird. They were seated in the isle and could see the dark night sky dotted with white stars outside the window. 

"Yeah, she is," said Logan, shifting the small girl's weight in his arms.

"It suits you to be a parent," said Raven with a smile, earning a shocked and semi-fearful expression on Logan's face.

"Don't be so shocked. You'd be a great parent," said Raven with a light laugh.

"You suggesting something, Misty?" asked Logan with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe," replied Raven a knowing smile on her face.

"I wouldn't be good for the kid, that's your suit. You already have Kurt," said Logan swiftly, slight panic in his voice.

"Well," said Raven slowly, "I was planning to adopt her anyway, I mean she and Kurt are already brother and sister, and the poor girl's lost all her family. Marie Aimee Darkholme sounds nice, don't you think?" (Aimee, pronounced Amy, it's the French version, I think) She and Logan had did some research on Marie and the other mutants captured prior to rescue to know how many would need loving families and how many had loved ones to return to. It was grim work as the ones needing families highly outnumbered the ones that didn't.

Logan balked, before raising his voice and saying, "NO WAY IN HELL, BUB! There is absolutely NO WAY you are adopting Stripes all for yourself. I don't really care what you say about Kurt and her…"

"But Logan," she said condescendingly, seeing that he was falling right into her trap, "You drink, smoke, fight, swear and travel a lot. Are you sure you'd be good for her, I mean after all, you're no model parent."

"Maybe not," said Logan, "but I know what Stripes needs, and I'll give that to her. I'd change for her…" Raven gave him a blank stare with a raised eyebrow, "Okay, so somewhat…"

Raven smiled at that, "So basically, you see yourself being a good parent because you can change 'somewhat' for her and give her what she needs…Hmm…kinda like what I did for Kurt."

Logan gave her a deadpan look, "Clever, Misty, clever, should've caught on to that…"

"Yeah, maybe, Logan, but admit it, you'd be a good father, and you know that you'd want her to be your kid," said Raven, "It's not like I didn't have any doubts about having Kurt. I was 18, after all."

"Well, you did pretty well," said Logan, stroking Marie's face, not looking at Raven.

"Thanks," she said.

"Marie Aimee Darkholme Howlett," said Logan so softly Raven nearly didn't catch it.

"What's that?" asked Raven needing confirmation to what she just heard.

"Marie Aimee Darkholme Howlett," repeated Logan.

"Are you sure?" said Raven, "Do you really want to scar her with such a mouthful of a name?"

"Yeah, I do, and it's not like she can do anything about it, yet," said Logan.

"Well, you have to admit it does roll off the tongue, and it will be memorable," said Raven.

"Oh, yeah, Misty, very memorable," finished Logan, and with that he wrapped his arm around Raven's shoulder, the other arm around Marie. Raven snuggled up against his shoulder, holding Kurt and they soon fell asleep with the kids.

Behind them, Ororo and Hank looked at each other and smiled.

"They make a good family," said Hank.

"Yes, they do," said Ororo with a smile, stroking the cheek of a boy sleeping in her lap. Hank was holding on to a set of twins, one boy and one girl, "I pray to the Goddess that Raven will be able to finally move on after Alfred."

"Well, she's always known that Alfred would want her to move on if anything like this happened and I know that there's no better man that he could see than Logan for that," said Hank.

"That's true, I think in her heart she knows that too," said Ororo as they watched the pair with Kurt and Marie. It was adorable to say the least.

* * *

Okay, and I'm done. Logan and Raven are building a relationship and they're both adopting Rogue…I think they've just crossed over to the border from friends to something more… 

I'll try to update the next part of this chapter real soon. I've got a ton of free time now, so never fear. I'm sorry I didn't get to stick in more character pasts, but it's getting long, and I never meant for this part to be this long, but hey, Remy's here now and the next chapter will show the other pasts of the characters and how they joined the Resistance. Plus, some more Logan and Mystique.

_**PLESE REVIEW!**_

simba317


	4. Part I: Run for Your Life

**NOTE:** As of October, 27th, 2005, I have restructured this piece of fiction to make more sense. Part I will deal with the past and Part II will deal with everything that is currently happening in their timeline at the time of the Prologue.

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I don't own X-Men Evolution, because if I did, it wouldn't be on hiatus. Hiatus is a euphemism for canceled in my book…

**Author's Notes: **By the time I finished writing Remy's escape from the compound last part, I was like, HOLY HELL, It's gonna run long…AGAIN…oh well. I just can't write anything short…Damn. I'm sorry for the delay last chapter, but I get uninspired for typing stuff out when it gets long, it becomes this tedious task where I have to fight to get all that I can see in my head out to print. But never fear, I won't give up and now, I have the whole rest of the summer pretty much free except for a long vacation, but don't worry, I'm hoarding my laptop, so I'll be able to type stuff up. I had summer school this year to do a course I couldn't take in regular classes. It was really sucky, thank the lord it's over.

Okay, well this chapter will deal with some scenes in points of Logan and Raven's relationship as well as Hank and Ororo. You get to see Kurt, Rogue and Remy grow up. Also, Kitty, Piotr, John and Wanda's pasts will show up too. I promise to put Romy in at the very end. Should be good. I think I'm gonna stick in a villain. Be sure to stay tuned for Chapter Two though. It's gonna showcase the putting together of Ferocity…I have it all planned out and ready to go. Oh and Chapter Three will be when Logan gets caught.

**Shout Outs: **

**CF: **Hey, there, and I really tried to make it shorter, but then I kinda gave up when I wrote the part where Remy escapes, I was like, screw it, it's gonna be long, I didn't want to break it up any more. As for Erik and Charles' partnership, yes, they are fighting the humans, and yes, none of the mutants and humans living in harmony yet, but keep in mind, all the mutants in here want to be is live in peace and not be hunted down so fiercely. So yes, they do want to live in harmony with humans, it's one of their goals, but it's just not happening due to all the crap's that's going on. Basically, they're fighting because it's the only way to survive, to keep hope alive and to get a better tomorrow.

Wow, I'm so surprised, yet glad that I got you so emotionally attached to Ororo, and by the sounds of it Raven. I think every one hates her, so I just want to make people like her for once, just leave all that Mystique hate at the front door and read with a neutrality, because the only reason people really dislike her is because of all the shit she's done to Rogue and Kurt, two people who are least deserving of shit coming to them. However, in my fic, she's a good mom to both. Whoa, I've got you hating humans…nice…kinda what I was going for, but keep in mind, that only some humans are like that, and some of their allies are normal humans, like Jean-Luc not willing to put up with the mutant bigotry shit. Really, it's mostly just the MSF going all bitchy.

Hey, Essex is one of the roots of all Romy troubles, the other being Bella Donna, so hey, he's evil, he does screwy things to Remy's eyes. I knew it'd make you guys hate him, so I stuck it in. I'm glad to see that you liked all the Logan/Remy parts. And yes, I just had to put in an awesomeful nice Jean-Luc. I'm glad to see you like the couples I stuck in and such. I loved your Hallelujah at saving Wolvie. Oh and yes, I just really had to stick in a slight Lion King ref…I mean, with a name like simba317, it's kinda obvious...huh? And I totally had to have them adopt Rogue. And yes, this is a flashback to give you the back story to each of the characters. And as for Wolvie dying…you're just gonna have to find out…I feel mean for saying that…but Wolvie's one of my faves, so yeah…I leave you with that. Thanks for dropping the reviews. Tell the squirrels I say, 'HI!'

Oh and as for Chapter One, Part One, I totally felt like I was killing people right and left. But hey, you find out that they all lived, well except Alfred of course. OMG…The part that had me LMAO…was 'What? Raven too….I don't even like her…' Beautiful. But yeah, I do hope you understand her more, and come to like her in this fic. I guess I usually don't like her, but after reading 'Extermination' by slickboy444, I kinda changed my views on her. He gave her a great back story and motive and just made her Raven Darkholme a person apart from Mystique. It was what really encouraged me to write Raven like this. Wouldn't we all love to throw bricks at Sinister. Hey, Ish and I have started an angry mob against him, she gets the crowd and I bring the pitchforks and torches, you could throw bricks for us, sweetie. Ooohhh, the one time you don't like fire…I had to do some Kurt and Rogue bonding, I love fics when they grow up together as twins and Logan and Raven are their parents…Logan is so the best dad ever and I really wanted you to get a sense of how bad this all is with the guard…A lot of people hate him and that's the point. Oh yeah, and 'The Road to Forever' will be worked on after I finish this part of Chapter One and the next chapter of 'A Mutated Existence' although I'll probably work simultaneously with them. Expect them to be out in about two weeks or less, depending on certain factors of course and the length of what I write. Oh, update Stockholm Syndrome, I love it.

**Bored247: **I love the word Remyafied…yeah…I'm glad that you thought the length was worth it, and well, as for Logan. You know he's just got some great parental instincts.

**Realtfarraige: **I'm glad you like how I'm integrating their pasts. I really want to show that each of them has suffered and been scarred by all this in some way or another. None of them have been safe. This chapter will show some more of that, and I think Wanda's will be one of the most heartbreaking. OMG…at the time, I just couldn't get over this one line in Sweet Tempting Poison's story, 'No Day Should Start Without Coffee,' and it was '"You're very hairy."' Directed to Logan as he lets Rogue test out a power inhibitor on him, by touching his hairy arm…and I guess that's where those hairy comments spawned from. I love that line in the story; it just made me LMAO…

I'm glad that you're getting frustrated with the guards at the MSF…the fact is, they're like those football jocks on Evo…they taunt and tease the mutants, really egging them on. They become very racist to them, and that, if going on unchecked and what not will lead to the abuse of them in prisons and what not. I mean, it was always hinted that that was what they really wanted to do to the mutants. The guards just get to put that into reality. I mean, I just took a page from the book out of what happened in the world with racism and what not. Their hate and bigotry just evolved from making those racist slurs to violence.

When I was writing Remy, he really did turn into the man in a boy's body. At first, I thought he was acting a little too adult, but then I just let that work itself because the fact is, Remy is from the streets and in a place like that, well, he's gonna grow up real fast, but I just had to insert the fun and innocence to keep him a child too. I just think that Logan couldn't be one to stand around and watch as these kids get hurt over and over. He'd just have to do something, even though it's not that much, because it eats at his soul to see this shit happen. I just had to say that the shit they live through became normal, because it really gives you a sense of how bad everything has gotten for them. I'm glad that you like that Remy was saved by Jean-Luc, I really think this will give Remy an opportunity to be more of a child and less of an adult. And of course, the Logan connection will come into play with Remy and Rogue, for sure. You'll just have to wait to see how.

It wasn't actually that hard to write. I got a plan in my head and just went with it with revisions. It was in the meeting room that it all took shape and I just used those conversations as a guide line to write the scenes. The only hard part about writing is the typing out part. It's long and tedious, but nothing satisfies me more to get a new chapter out. I'm glad that you thought so highly of that scene. I'm kinda regretful that I didn't describe a lot of the teleporters, I was just like 'and they waited for one to teleport them here and there…' They were such an integral part too, but I didn't want to slow the plot to do it, plus they just used so many…

It really pleases me…OMG… I loved the comment of one day Logan's healing factor conking out…it just gave me the best mental image…LMAO…But seriously, I think Logan's the easiest one to pick on without guilt due to his healing factor. I think that just clues them in on beating him as much as they want, because he'll heal. Plus, for some reason, I like to be brutal with Logan and his healing factor…I don't know why though…strange really. I think it's just the intensiveness you can get with a fight when you do that. One of my fave fight scenes is in "Hellfire and Brimestone" by Agent-G when Logan is made to fall through many floors of a high rise building into the sewer and just crawls out after healing a bit.

I'm glad you liked the character interactions. I really made the Resistance like a surrogate family to them, because it is, I think, they've all lost a lot in life, and they've given their lives to it, because there is that family that's there and the people that help them move on, and I think they just bond well to their experiences. I really had to put in normal people not standing for this, because when such shit is happening, there are always those who want to oppose it, but keep their mouths shut due to fear and what not. And normal people do care, but it's the fear that stops them from doing so. I'm glad you like this, and thanks for the review. It was awesome to see.

**GothikStrawberry: **I'm glad you like this version of Jean-Luc, I didn't much like the Evo version either, even though it was a nifty way for Rogue and Remy to bond. However, in my other fic, 'A Mutated Existence', I'm blaming his behavior on the tithe and Candra, just because I hate it when he's like that, I heart the Guild. They're awesome. I'm glad you liked the Raven/Logan scene at the end and Harry Potter really did effectively halt my writing…

**Ishy: **Whenever, I write a new chapter, I always start by doing the shout outs, why, it just gets me into the zone to write a new chapter and it reminds me of all I wrote…Anyway, I love getting reviews from you, even when I don't stick Romy necessarily into a chapter. But I had to have a little link for Rogue and Remy, and what better one than Wolvie. I'm glad to see that I've got you rooting for the mutants. I really wanted to build that feeling of rallying behind them. I just had to have Logan sacrifice his freedom for Remy, I was always gonna have him do that, because well, Logan is just like that with his honor, and I think people are gonna get frustrated by it due to the fact that he does it again, I mean in the current timeline, he's captured somewhere and completely brainwashed.

I'm glad you like kid Remy. It's impossible for Remy not to be cute as a kid, it's just something about him, I mean even without his sexiness and charm, I think he still attracted the ladies as a kid because he'd just be so adorable. Hey, I just love that euphemism, 'relocating wealth' or 'redistribution of wealth', it's one of the things I love about Remy. He finds ways to bend the rules, that and I've got a thing for the bad boys…And I'll definitely try for the bunny on crackness.

**Toxic touch727: **Thanks for the review. Please update My Immortal. I love it. I'm glad you like the family relationship of Kurt, Rogue, Raven and Logan. I really tried hard to make them really bond. Although, the terrible teens are coming up, basically, a rebellious Rogue.

Okay, now we'll roll out the plot bunnies.

* * *

**PART ONE: CHAPTER THREE: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE**

* * *

The tall man of medium build sat back straight, eyes focused on the readouts of his computer in a luxuriously decorated study. The floor was a deep colored hardwood. Oriental carpets sat underneath the strong dark wood carved table. Rich velvet wingback chairs were positioned throughout the room. The one he sat in was grand and made of soft Italian leather. Old fashioned lamps were on his desk and smaller coffee tables in the room. Draperies and curtains hung on their posts near expensive art. Wooden paneling surrounded the study and many figurines were positioned on shelves lined with thick volumes and on his desk. A crystal chandelier loomed overhead.

His desk sported leather bound copies of official documents, an expensive antique lamp, a hot coffee mug, a new computer, and several writing implements. The desks held even more documents and files as well as a few supplies. A large antique clock sat in the corner ticking away the seconds as the man wearing an Armani suit sat typing on his computer at a rapid speed, holding an unemotional calm, but on the inside he was incensed. The leather shoes on his feet were Italian made and a silver Rolex dangled on his wrist.

His hair was jet black and slicked back. His eyes were a piercing cold blue, holding no warmth. His lips were thin and seemed too red for his pallor face. His name was Doctor Nathaniel Essex and he was infuriated. His plans had been foiled for they had been revealed to the enemy. His glorious network had been made a fool of. His entire organization had been crippled from the smallest cell to the largest corporation, for the Underground Resistance X had finally done it, they had bested him, and he didn't like that at all. His partners, Stryker and Trask were infuriated, not only did the Resistance destroy their most superb facilities in the field of experimentation, they had found a hotbed of information on them as well and it had come with consequences; the facilities of theirs that had once been so well trained and so elaborately hidden were now found and many of them had been ruined, burned to the ground, nothing more than ash.

The most insufferable thing was that it had been coming to them. For so long they had grown stronger, grown more powerful, grown more diligent, grown faster and grown more efficient, except so had the enemy and by all accounts, they were better, always better, just that one step ahead, but they were still winning the war, they were still winning and the Resistance knew that, their greatest weakness was their need for secrecy. They were winning a war, but they knew they had to rebuild before the enemy smashed them beyond repair. The summer was almost over, and almost all of the prisons had been hit and many more facilities were raided, destroyed, found and infiltrated. The worse part was that, although, they knew that there was a rebel force disrupting their goals, they had yet to find out anything about them, except that they had a way with butting into their plans and foiling them.

So for now he typed and planned with his two partners. They had come a long way, those three men with a dream, a goal. Goals of human dominance free of the genetic taint of the mutants; it was a pure race, a glorious race, a brilliant race, and a perfect race. The partners had decided that their strike would me immediate, their offense strong and victory imminent. They would finally strike one back and rebuild their organization more incredible than ever. A lesson was learned and a race was to be exterminated.

Finally, the message being typed on Dr. Nathaniel Essex's computer was complete with approval from General William Stryker and Sir Bolivar Trask III. Dr. Essex sent the file and closed off his computer, sipping his coffee, a satisfied grin on his lips. Slowly and deliberately, he vacated his seat and exited the room to other rooms of his elaborate English country side manor.

An order was given in all compounds: Slaughter all mutants. Yes, they were winning the war.

* * *

Raven smiled, shutting off the light in the bedroom. Leaning on the doorframe, she watched as Kurt and Marie slept in their beds that were next to each other. On Marie's side, it was painted a soft grayish green and had posters of animals and stars. Small white as well as dark wood furniture was in that side of the room, including a small desk, chairs and a small bench. A chest was in front of her four poster bed. Her blankets were lavender and violet. Kurt's side of the room was painted a bright cerulean blue, lighter than his fur. Posters of cars, rockets and planets were stuck at odd angles on his side. He too had matching white as well as dark wood furniture like Marie and a large chest at the front of his four poster bed. Both had a night table as well, Marie's purple, Kurt's red as well as shelves with toys on them, stuffed animals, dolls, action figures and cars. In the front by the door stood a circular table with four small chairs and on it were several toys. A couch was also positioned on one side to accommodate adults. Each had a dresser as well as a closet, but they shared a bathroom. Somehow, the carpet had wound up black because the two children had seen the sparkles in it and had not wanted any different. This was but one of the rooms in Logan and Raven's housing unit, underground in the headquarters. 

Kurt and Marie were now nine and had yet to get separate rooms for they had a strong bond and after their time in the prison had refused to sleep alone, but of course, they were beginning to find separation from each other, so the move to separate rooms was inevitable, but they were still unbelievably close, almost like twins, even though Kurt was seven months older than Marie. A voice stirred Raven from her thoughts of her two children as a voice.

"They asleep, Misty?" asked Logan as he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her round belly, a silver ring on his left hand glinting in the light from the hall.

"Yeah," whispered Raven as he kissed her temple lovingly, "Is Odin asleep?"

"Yeah, took a while, though. He's hyperactive," replied Logan.

"Not surprising, considering the healing factor," said Raven.

"No way, Misty, he inherited your personality," said Logan.

"Oh please," said Raven, hitting him lightly on the arm as she lead him out the room, shutting the door behind her. Odin had been born two years ago and was a hyperactive two year old, due to a combination of Raven's personality and a healing factor like Logan's. He'd yet to display any more mutations. He had white blond hair with black tips and resembled Logan, but was lankier. His eyes were a deep blue. During the past few years, Kurt had begun to show his teleportation ability and Marie had yet to manifest one, the only clues being her DNA and her white stripe. Raven was currently pregnant with twins and she and Logan had gotten married a little over three years ago after a strange two year relationship due to the fact that they had kids, but were 'not romantically involved' for part of it. Of course that changed due to Hank and Ororo's meddling with the help of two irresistible children…

* * *

"Remember what you've gotta ask, children?" asked Ororo with a smile, trying not to laugh. 

Kurt and Marie both gave her winning smiles, nodding conspiratorially. Then, they ran off to do their duties, giggling.

"Do you find it remotely shameful that we're using children to get them together?" asked Hank with a toothy grin.

"No, Hank, not at all," replied Ororo.

"Hmm…I thought I was the only one," said Hank.

"Well, they need outside help," said Ororo.

"I prefer aggressive push, but whatever works," said Hank, causing Ororo to laugh, clutching her slightly protruding stomach.

"You would think that nearly losing their lives time after time would make them want to finally admit their feelings," said Ororo.

"Well, Logan and feelings don't really do hand in hand, and Raven's stubborn and prideful," said Hank.

"Don't we all know it," said Ororo.

She and Hank had married shortly after the base had settled down after the Summer Liberation, after the sadness of the Mutant Massacre that followed, five months after Kurt and Marie found their way to safety after so long of fear.

* * *

Marie skipped merrily down the long corridor to meet up with Logan after one of his exhausting sessions in the Danger Room, one of many in the facility. 

Running up to him with a large heartwarming grin she leapt into his open arms, laughing as he spun her around and gave her a hug. It seemed that Logan would only stray out of his gruff nature for Raven, Marie and Kurt. Otherwise, his reputation as the Wolverine would hold true. Only Hank, Ororo, Erik and Charles noticed this, everyone was too oblivious.

Putting her down, and kneeling to her eyelevel, he asked, "So Stripes, what brings you here? You should be with Rae in our unit."

"Oh, I wanted to talk to you, daddy," said Rogue with a sweet smile. Logan didn't know whether to be touched that she called him daddy or fearful.

"Oh, what's that, darlin'?" asked Logan, a little scared. Yup, the Wolverine was fearful of a small girl of age five with big green eyes. Big green eyes that you couldn't refuse to anything…

"How come you and mommy aren't married? Aren't mommies and daddies supposed to be married?" asked Marie, a confused and questioning look on her sweet face.

Logan balked, "Umm….Uh…well…uh…you see…er…Rave and I aren't…uh…together in…uh…that um…way…Well, what I'm trying to say, is that…um…I…well...I care about your mom, just not…uh…romantically….and people usually only…uh….um…umm…marry…when t-they love each other, Stripes…and well…mommies and daddies don't…necessarily have to be…well…married per se…"

Little Marie's eyes began to water and her lip began to tremble, "Y-Y-You don't love mommy, daddy…" she said beginning to cry.

Logan picked her up, fear in rolling in his eyes, "Well, no, Stripes, I love Misty, just not in that way," he said quickly, too quickly…"It's just that every women I come to be with, always ends up hurt and I just don't want Rae to go through that."

"T-Th-Then why do you live with her, only mommies and daddies live together…" said Marie.

"Um…well…" said Logan.

"And why do you hold her hand, don't people that love each other hold hands?" asked Marie.

Logan muttered some more incoherent words, the blood rushing to his face.

"And don't only people that love each other kiss…?" asked Marie with childhood innocence and wide green eyes, referring to when she, Kurt, Ororo and Hank saw Logan and Raven kissing, well a kiss on the cheek…but that's not the point.

Logan stumbled with his words some more, suddenly noticing Hank strolling down the hall, a cheery tune being hummed, strolling to his lab on the other side of the facility, just happening to pass by…

Logan looked very panicked as Marie had cornered him.

"Uh…HANK, could you please take Marie to Rae's unit…um…I've got…to uh…shower. Thanks," he quickly handed Marie over to Hank and ran into the locker room with adjoining bathroom.

Hank and Marie waited for him to be gone before bursting out with laughter.

"Good job, Scarlet," praised Hank.

Marie only smiled. (It's SO much fun to make Logan all panicky)

* * *

"See you, Erik, Charles," called Raven as she said good bye to her superiors, heading in opposite directions, after the mission briefing in the meeting room. She was about to go to Shanghai to retrieve some documents of interest. Raven was about to pick up Kurt and Marie from their preschool, when suddenly she noticed one of the said children bounding down the hall. 

"Kurt, what are you doing here? You're supposed to wait for me with Marie at preschool," said Raven with a smile on her face as she met Kurt in a hug.

"I know, but I vanted to zee you," said Kurt.

"Oh, why's that?" asked Raven with caution in her eyes. She picked up Kurt and began to walk towards her and Logan's housing unit.

"Do you love Logan?" he asked cocking his head to one side with an innocent expression on his face.

"Umm…well…yes," said Raven, already disliking the conversation.

"Zhen how come you're not married?" asked Kurt with that innocent expression again.

"Well because we're not together like that," said Raven.

"Like vhat?" asked Kurt.

"Like two people in a relationship that love each other," replied Raven.

"But you zaid you love Logan," said Kurt.

"I do, but just not in the way that constitutes a loving relationship," said Raven, gritting her teeth, entering the housing unit that belonged to herself and Logan.

"Zhen vhy did you zay you love him?" asked Kurt innocently.

"Well, because he's kind, sweet, honorable, brave, courageous and funny, even though he can be completely incorrigible, snide, rude, gruff, arrogant, vulgar and egotistical," her voice had been raised ticking off Logan's more uncouth qualities. This was all punctuated by Raven entering the kitchen of their unit and slamming the swinging door shut behind her. She set Kurt down in a chair in the round kitchen table and began to cut pieces of an apple to give to him as a snack.

"But isn't Logan my daddy now, so how come you're not married?" asked Kurt.

Raven sighed, knowing she'd have to answer this inevitable question some day. She went over and placed a plate of neatly chopped apples in front of him and came to sit beside him.

"You remember your real daddy, Kurt?" asked Raven.

"Ja," said Kurt softly.

"Well, I still love him and well…uh…this is so hard, but I'm just not ready for what Logan and I have," said Raven, honestly, not knowing if Kurt understood it all and frankly she had enough of being in the hot seat. Luckily, she was saved by the sound of the kitchen door opening.

"Ororo! Umm…Could you please watch Kurt for a second? I have to go…uhh…get some groceries, yeah, we're um…running out, be back in a jiff!" said Raven dashing out from the room, grabbing her purse on the way, not questioning why Ororo was in her housing unit at all.

Once they heard the hiss of the entrance door sliding closed and locking into place, the two of them burst into laughter.

* * *

To say that Logan and Raven had a lot to reevaluate about their relationship was an understatement. For the next two weeks, they became like a pair of awkward teenagers, barely saying two words to each other, avoiding eye contact, ducking out of the other's sight, and when they did speak to each other, they stumbled over their words and left in a hurry. They became easily flustered. It was amusing, to say the least, but very frustrating for their friends. Their ploy to get them together had worked, but a little too well. So it was time for desperate measures.

* * *

A round of resounding laughter was heard from a small surveillance room in the north corridor as Charles and Erik strolled and rolled down it, rousing their curiosity and causing the means for their investigation of it. Opening the door, they were greeted with the sound of a microphone amplifying the voices of two people in a deep conversation as well as the sight of several monitors showing the same scene unfold at various different angles and shots. 

"Was it really necessary to use our resources like that to get them together?" asked Erik.

"Was it actually necessary to take such measures?" asked Charles.

Both men were amused at finding Hank, Ororo, Kurt and Marie huddled in front of monitors watching a 'date' go on between Logan and Raven. Kurt and Marie were in print flannel pajamas.

"Yes, and besides, it was highly necessary," said Ororo. Hank agreed by nodding.

"How so?" asked Charles sharing a bemused look with Erik, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you see, Logan and Raven have been trailing separate high ranking members of the MSF for a few days now, trying to see if they can get any information off them as well as getting to know the way their routines to get the jump on the behavior of MSF operatives. They were supposed to meet their contacts at this restaurant where their targets are sitting nearby to pass info as well as overhear anything that may go on between the two operatives with their listening devices. But their contacts just didn't show up for some reason and by coincidence they were reserved the same table," said Hank.

"I'm sure," said Erik.

"See, we have the footage taped from the MSF operatives' conversation. It's heavily coded," said Ororo, "and isn't their coded dialogue brilliant?"

"Right," said Charles. They decided to leave the small surveillance room and leave them to their business.

"I don't believe them for a moment," said Erik, with a smile.

"Me neither, old friend, but Logan and Raven, dare I say it, need help," said Charles with equal amusement.

"That they do," said Erik, "For integrity's sake, we didn't see anything."

"Of course," said Charles as they headed to their separate quarters.

* * *

Raven Darkholme was NOT having a good day. First, she was awakened at three am in the morning by none other than Ororo claiming that there was an immediate mission for her to take care of. Then, she had driven herself three hours to reach the local airport for her flight to New York with her new identity. Riding in the plane had been a test of its own, it was as if God hated her. She had been made to sit beside a 300 pound man in Economy Class who just wouldn't shut up, no matter what she did to make him do so. He ate disgustingly and continuously throughout the flight and was simply vulgar. Thank God the flight was short; Raven couldn't get off the plane fast enough. Then, she was made to trail some nut job throughout New York, having to change shape many times and do the most revolting things, such as hide in a sewer, shuffle through garbage and follow him as the sickening target flirted with women, and performed unsavory deeds for the MSF. 

She was more than glad to finally end her mission by getting cleaned up and changed into formal attire to trail her target to a restaurant where she would meet her contact in a disguised form. Her hair was now a deep reddish auburn color, slightly curled and hanging loose on her shoulders and back and her eyes were blue with smoky eye shadow. Her skin tone was pale, which made her features stand out even more noticeably. Raven wore a simple floor length red dress that hugged her curves with spaghetti straps and a flared out skirt made of a soft shiny velvety material that flowed as she moved. The shape shifter was dressed to blend in and not stand out, and yet look stylish and formal. On her feet was a pair of black heels made of a slightly fuzzy material and adorning her neck was a simple diamond pendant with matching silver bracelets.

Upon entering the restaurant, she told the maitre d' the last name of her companion and he promptly led her to a table near the back of the restaurant with pristine tablecloth, candles and table settings. Approaching the aforementioned table and noticing who was meeting her, she abruptly did a double take and nearly fell flat on her face. Luckily, she kept her cool, as did her dinner partner who choked down his wine, hurriedly. The maitre d' pulled out a chair for her and after she was seated and her drink poured, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"They set us up," she said evenly, finally realizing the intervening hoax her friends had played on her.

* * *

Logan was a man with connections and was renowned for it. So when Hank told him that there was something brewing on the MSF underground, it was he who volunteered to check it out and do some sleuthing, hopping on a late night plane to New York, where many of his contacts and most secretive operations took place without public knowledge. The plane ride was horrible. The stewardess kept on bumping into you whilst walking down the isle. Frankly she was rude, ugly and spiteful, spilling hot coffee all over him after he had commented that she should watch where she was going. And that was only the beginning of the stewardess from hell. Upon arriving, he rented a car and headed into the city where he questioned contact after contact to no leads, frustrating him immensely. He got into brawls and scraps trying to find out what these people knew, but had come up with absolutely nothing and it was bothering him to no end. He had gone to some of the more ghetto like parts of town and gone down into sewers, garbage dumps and still nothing. 

Finally, it came time to go to a restaurant to pass information to his contact that would meet him there. He cleaned up and got changed. It was a ritzy place, and unfortunately, that meant that he'd have to wear a suit. Logan wore a black blazer and loose pants to match with a crisp white shirt and blood red tie as well as a pair of leather shoes. He had tried his best to tame his hair by slicking it back as best he could and upon entering the restaurant had been ushered to an ambient table near the back with the intimate setting of candles. He guessed that the contact would be a woman. Logan ordered wine and a few moments later, it arrived with him studying the menu and waiting for his dinner companion.

Suddenly, he balked. His nose had caught onto something, but no, that couldn't be right, could it? Mere coincidence, he assured himself. However, he was forced to swallow his thoughts as he saw her, undeniably her with his powerful nose. He nearly spat out and choked on his wine, but was able to hold it down and swallow. Logan couldn't believe it, he was surprised. The maitre d' politely pulled out a chair for his dining partner and poured her a cup of wine, then after mentioning the specials on the menu, promptly left.

She let out an exasperated sigh said deadpan, "They set us up."

Logan took a sip of wine, "So how do you want to kill them?"

"Torture, bribery and blackmail sound nice," said Raven with a casual hand gesture.

"Very good, Misty," said Logan.

She then gave a sigh, "I guess we should do what they set us up to. It's as good as any time to." She avoided his eye contact briefly, playing with the table cloth.

"Yeah, I have really had enough of being jumpy," replied Logan.

After a short pause Raven started, by looking up at him, "I really like you, more than I could have thought, and infinitely more than when I was a teenager."

"God, Misty, you're way too young for me…" mumbled Logan, taking a sip of wine.

"Logan, everyone's too young for you," replied Raven snidely.

"Darlin', that's not the point," said Logan, giving her a deadpan look.

"C'mon, boy, out with it," encouraged Raven, making an encouraging hand gesture, waving at him like he was a dog.

Logan then grumbled out, "Fine. I like you too." Raven gave him a smug smile.

"So when do you think us happened anyway?" asked Raven, resting her head in her palm, "I never expected it, that's for sure."

"Me neither, but if I had ter hazard a guess darlin' it'd be somewhere between me recovering and you finding Kurt," he said.

"Still makes you wonder how it happened," she said relenting.

"'Ro once told me that I'm naturally drawn to people who're hurting and have this innate sense to need to help them," he started, "At the time, oh, I don't know, out of all the people at the base, you were definitely the one most in need of a friend and I guess it lead from there."

"I agree," said Raven, "I mean there's that whole rescuing little kids thing," she got a far off look in her eyes and told him, "I miss him so much. I just don't know if this is right, if it's too soon…I'm just so confused."

"It never gets any easier, Rae, you just learn to cope with it, and move on knowing that they would've wanted you to be happy," said Logan.

"Maybe. We made plans, and I never thought it'd end so soon. We always knew that it might not last, but I never thought it'd be so real. And maybe you should take some of your own advice, Logan, you're still completely hung up over Rose and Yuriko," said Raven.

"It just seems that every time I get close to someone, shit always happens to them. They get hurt, really badly, and I always lose, every single damn time," replied Logan.

"So what? You've just given up on it all. Logan, I know, from what you've told me that you loved each of them so much and how each moment you spent with them was incredible and worth cherishing for the rest of your life. So why keep reliving the past, when you can be out there finding that again and be happy. I love Alfred, Logan, I always will. He gave me Kurt and that's what makes it harder, but I know it's okay to move on and find someone else, but mostly I just wanna stop feeling like shit because he's not here anymore. I'll always treasure my time with him, but I wanna find happiness again," said Raven, reaching out and taking his hand.

"Rae, I just wanna learn from my mistakes and stop making them. I don't want to hurt you, or Kurt or Marie and I will, somehow, I just know it," said Logan.

"Well, I'd hate to tell you, but it's too late for that. You got involved Logan, really involved with me, Kurt and Marie. They deserve a real dad, Logan, and they want you. But most of all, you deserve to be happy," said Raven, "Besides, time is something any of us has, so why waste it?"

"We have something, Rave, something that boggles my mind. I wanted to make you happy from the moment I saw that you were suffering and I still do, for some inexplicable reason. I want to get over them and stop from holding myself back, but when you're up high, you fall down further and it's so much harder ter climb back up again. Yet, I still want to help you move on from Alfred and be happy again," said Logan with a smile.

"So you'll give us a chance?" said Raven, with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah," replied Logan, "I'll do everything once."

"Great, I'm starved; I've trailed some loser all over New York. The pasta looks good," she said, studying the menu.

"Right, at least you didn't have to question some nut jobs who really really didn't know shit," said Logan, "Hmm…filet mignon…"

"Why is it always meat with you?" asked Raven amused. Logan gave her a raised eyebrow in reponse.

"Did you happen to work in retail?" asked Logan with an amused expression.

"No, but convincing MSF agents that you're not conspicuous works just as well," replied Raven with a smile and a wink.

"Right, darlin'," said Logan mumbling something and giving her the 'you're crazy' look.

The rest of the night was completed with witty conversations, laughter, wonderful and good times, but also the two of them finally getting over their awkwardness with each other. Their feelings for each other were finally revealed and both agreed to a tentative 'dating' type relationship…which was of course entirely eavesdropped upon by the instigators of this clever ploy.

* * *

The pair would truly fall in love with each other after that point, and after a two year courtship, the two would finally wed. They taught each other to love again, and to take a chance. They formed a bond because of the need to get over what they lost and move on, somehow being drawn to each other's pain and helping each other get through it. And in between the friendship lay the care and love they had for each other, which had to be found. They became happy together, raising Kurt and Marie, living each day to the fullest, because they knew that and had experienced first had how short time with the people you cared about could be. 

Two weeks before the wedding, which would be a momentous and joyous occasion where Marie was the flower girl and Kurt the ring bearer, Kurt and Raven made a trip to a small cemetery in Germany, to say good bye before officially moving on with their lives. In the local cemetery beside the small nearby church lay the final resting place of Alfred Wagner, buried next to his family, as he would've wanted to be.

Kurt was now nearly seven years old, however, he still remembered the words his father had said to him that fateful night they fled with alarming clarity. He ingrained it into his head, remembering exactly the way his father looked in the fading light, the tone of his voice, the way his eyes bore so much love for him, so many words that he wanted to say, to tell him, but would never get the chance. Kurt tramped over to the neatly kept gravestone engraved with his father's name, running his hand over it, whispering, "Hello, fazher, I miss you zo much, so does mozher. I love you, and you'll always be my dad, except now, so will Logan. I'll always remember you and vhat you taught me. I love Logan too, and so does mom. I got a sister too, now, Marie, you vould've loved her too. I'll alvays miss you, but I'm moving on without you. I hope you don't mind Logan being my dad now, and marrying mom. I zhink you vould like him. Vell, I know you already did, but you know vhat I mean. He's a good man. You'll alvays be my dad, but so vill Logan, and I'll alvays remember you and love you too." As he finished, he hugged the tombstone, the last thing holding his father to the Earth and let his mother speak her peace.

"Hey, Alfred. We always knew that if something like this happened, we'd move on and I did, Alfred. I'm happy, really happy. Logan makes me happy and I love him. I love him so much. But I'll always love you too, and you'll always have a place in my heart. I'll always treasure the time we had together and remember them always. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss you. I wish you were still here so that you could see Kurt, he's growing up, and I always wanted to share that with you. I'm getting married in two weeks to Logan. You always like him, so I know you don't mind. He's good to me, Kurt and Marie too. He's taking care of us. You'll always be my first love, Alfred. You gave me everything I ever wanted and all my firsts. There's so much I want to still share with you, but can't. We were so great together, but so are me and Logan. I moved on thanks to Logan, but I'll always love you and always miss you, Alfred. Good bye," she said, and with that she kissed her fingertips and bought them to his headstone. Then, holding Kurt's hand, they left flowers and walked away, feeling lighter and happier, knowing that they still loved him, but moved on so that he didn't make them sad anymore, but happy to have shared their lives with someone so incredible.

The event of the wedding was one marked with happiness and celebration, a rarity in the lives they lived. It went perfectly. It marked the absolution of something many of their inner circle had seen for some time, ever since Logan returned and helped Raven get better from losing Alfred. They had found in each other hope for the future and a chance to take care of each other, to help each other forge on and live again.

They had held it in a mansion that Charles owned in Westchester that had been untouched by the MSF in fall with the area looking spectacular with amazing scenery due to the colored leaves and lovely wilderness surrounding the estate from the lake to the rivers, mountains and trees, the beach and the ocean beyond, it was perfect. It was a very traditional wedding, held in a place where all of their friends could come as they were.

She wore a beautiful white dress with lace, beading and silk. He wore a classic black tuxedo. Marie was the flower girl, earning coos of adoration due to her cuteness. Kurt was the ring bearer and earned chuckles of amusement due to his liveliness. Ororo was the elegant bridesmaid in a simple red gown, and Hank was the portly best man. Their many friends in the Resistance rounded off the wedding party, with both Erik and Charles giving Raven away.

Meeting at the alter, they met each other's eyes, seeing everything they meant to each other returned. Lifting her veil, the priest began to speak. The vows were exchanged with touching emotion, eliciting tears from every party in the room. It was as if they were the only two people in the room. Their words were spoken with love, devotion, truth and eloquence, and sealed with the passing of rings, symbolizing their bond to each other. A kiss finalized their commitment and drew cheers from the crowd. From that they on, they were connected and bound for eternity.

However, this day would start with a moment in time with a little girl.

Raven looked to the little girl in the simple red dress smiling brightly, new hope and happiness ablaze in eyes that had seen so much.

"Ya look real pretty, momma," she said, awe in her voice at seeing the beautiful woman before her.

"Thanks, sweetheart, you look gorgeous yourself," said Raven, running a hand along her cheek. She would be a heartbreaker some day, she thought. One could easily see the blossomings of a beautiful woman to be some time in the future.

"So is daddy gonna be at tha end?" asked Marie with a child's innocence, retained just like Kurt even after all their pain and suffering. Though the scars remained, they still forged on, the strongest of them all.

"Yeah, sweetie, he is," said Raven, "you just scatter the rose petals and go towards him."

"Okay," she said sweetly, "Why did ya adopt me?" she asked, curious all of a sudden.

"Well, honey, you remember when I told you how your dad told me so much about you from after we rescued him?" she asked and as Marie nodded, Raven continued, "Well, he told me some amazing things about you and Kurt too, I saw that you and Kurt had become brother and sister, given each other hope, and I began to see that you gave that to me too. When I saw you, I knew that you were my daughter, I just did. It was like fate brought us all together. I know what it's like Marie, to lose your family, your parents, everything you hold dear. I think I saw myself in you and I didn't want you to suffer like I did, and I think I just knew that you could help me heal, like I would help you. You, your dad, and Kurt, you helped me find happiness again. When I first saw you, I just knew that you'd give us all hope and light for once, and I wanted to make sure you never lost it."

The girl gave her a smile and without a word, reached for her mother's hand, and together they began to walk out the door to the wedding about to start.

* * *

While, Logan and Raven had relative ease with their children at the moment, another couple did not…or so it seemed… 

"Ororo, Ororo! Have you seen him? I can't seem to be able to find him. He disappeared among the insulin and aesthesia," said a frazzled Hank as he burst into their housing unit to see an amused weather goddess sitting on a couch reading a magazine. Ororo merely pointed to the couch across from hers.

"Oh," said Hank upon seeing the sight of a boy curled up on the couch fast asleep. The five year old boy had blue fur all over his body, like his father, only his was not shaggy and long and looked very cat like, with paw like hands and feet. His ears were pointed and looked like a lion's, and he had long navy blue dreadlocked hair. He also had a long furry cat like tail and claws. The boy had intricate white markings on his face and body and when he wasn't sleeping, one could see his fantastic baby blue eyes.

"He ran in, saying that he was playing hide and seek with you about an hour ago," said Ororo.

"Ah yes," said Hank, feeling sheepish, "I forgot about that."

"Well, Lysander is a tricky one," said Ororo, with a smile. She had known that Lysander had retreated here the moment he started to play hide and seek with his father. (Lysander is the name of one of the characters from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermia's true love. Hey, McCoy was big into Shakespeare on Evo. Pronounced Lie-sander.)

A slight whimpering distracted them from their conversation and turned Hank to check on the bassinette in the corner of the living room. Inside lay a little new born baby girl with Ororo's dark mocha skin and a shock of soft bright blue hair on her head and when she would open her eyes in the future they would show to be deep blue like her father's. Hank picked up the little girl, causing Ororo to smile, for the large man always showed he was gentle and rocked the baby back and forth until she stopped whimpering.

"Tamara is a sweet one," said Ororo, running a finger down her apple cheek.

"Yes, my dear, she is," said Hank, looking in wonder at the little life in his arms.

Just then, a small voice interrupted the couple as they watched in bliss of their little daughter.

"Daddy, tuck me in?" said a voice, "I can't sleep." Her name was Zara, the now middle child of Hank and Ororo at around two. She had bright white hair and cornflower blue eyes like her mother. Her skin however, was a shade of light blue, just like Hank's underneath all the fur.

"Sure, Zara," said Hank, giving Tamara over to Ororo and moving to take Zara's little hand and lead her to tuck her into bed again.

And so, Hank and Ororo found their own brand of happiness and normality within the chaos of the world they lived in, just like every other person in the Resistance. You made your own happiness and forged your own lives from the holes you climbed out from. And that is the story of the other's that would join too…

* * *

Katherine Pryde was a normal girl. She lived in Chicago with her mother and father, an only child, but a happy one, always spreading a little brightness in the lives of everyone she knew. She was unique. While most chose the nickname of Kat, Kathy, Kate or Katie for a full name of Katherine, she went by Kitty, but those special qualities about her did not end there… 

There was injustice in the world, and from a young age, she knew it, she saw it, and instead of suppressing that in their child, their parents allowed it to bloom, seeing that knowledge was better than the half truths the government fed them. They were appalled by the Mutant Hunt, who wasn't? But the point was, you couldn't very well say so and live to see the consequences. To not believe in the half truths was to lie in the darkness and to truly believe in it was to stray from the light, but that was all they could do, turn a blind eye and stray and hope that they could live in happiness in a times like these. It was like living in a democratic dictatorship, sure they could vote for who ran the country, but they were all the same, carbon copies of each other all believing in the same thing and not one who differed was ever the choice, and so what decisions could they make? It was something of Hitler's Germany.

It was one even when Kitty Pryde was 13, when they realized they could no longer hide in their simple existence and hope for the best, because action needed to be taken, lest their daughter be taken away from them so many other children were, no, they would not stand for it, they couldn't, they would disappear, they would find their own happiness and they would succeed.

* * *

Kitty walked home from school as usual, with her best friend Melody, who lived next door. The bubbly brunette talked about fun things with her best friend. Things that any thirteen year olds would, clothes, make up, boys and music. Every thing about this day had been ordinary, but the funny thing about normality is that it ends when you least expect it, throwing everything you hold dear into chaos. 

Rounding the corner to an intersection that would lead to their houses, they saw the pandemonium of a mutant capture. Bullets were flying, people were screaming, the victims were running and voices were brought to the peak of yelling. In such times of disorder, the girls knew that an alternate route was needed to get home safely, but before they could react and go in a different direction, the detainment took a turn for the worse, the mutant boy who was trying to evade capture ran towards them, pushing them aside as he past, trying to escape. He never would. As soon as he came in their direction, bullets began to fly at them, the MSF so concentrated on taking out the mutant race, that they didn't care anymore if civilians died, it was unfortunate, yes, but an honorable sacrifice needed to cleanse the race of the tainted genes.

The cracking of bullets echoed in the air of the alley they were coming out of and as soon as she turned her head after falling from when the boy pushed her to elude the MSF, she saw it. For the first time in her life, Katherine Pryde saw death. The mutant boy who couldn't have been more than 16 was shot dead. His blood splattered off his body at impact, causing him to lurch forward, before he could fall to the ground, more bullets was shot and impacted his body in rapid succession. The sound of his strangled voice as he fell to the ground dead would haunt her forever, but while she was being scarred by the whole ordeal, she remembered one thing, a scream in the background. It was Melody. Her last words would not be like the harmonious tones in her voice as told by her name, but the sound of a scream, in terror, pain, fear and agony.

The MSF would never allow a body to just lie, no, it had to be made sure that it was dead, so they continued to shoot at the dead body, dishonoring it until it was nothing more than a hunk of flesh, the body once inhabited by a handsome boy, so full of potential was gone and in its place a stark reminder of the cruelty of the MSF. Kitty could watch this no more. She turned her head from the boy and the next thing she saw, broke her heart. The dead eyes of Melody starring back at her. She screamed. Fear, pain and sorrow enveloped her, and in her hysterical and irrational state of mind, she ran from her safe alcove to check on her friend right into the crossfire of the bullets.

Scurrying from the alcove where she had fallen, she began to make a run to her friend, somehow ignoring the bullets and noise from it all. Just as she made it a little ways into the alley, it was like her brain finally clicked and she realized she was prime target practice. Turning her head, frozen in shock, she watched as she saw what had to be the end of her short life, running to see if her friend was okay. The bullets shot straight at her, with no time for those MSF officers to divert their fire. Something amazing happened then as Kitty Pryde closed her eyes and waited for impact.

It never came.

Opening her eyes, she watched in amazement as bullet after bullet careened past her body, right through. A shout of an agent to go after her now shocked her out of her reverie. She hurriedly ran to Melody and saw that she was a lost cause, bullets had ripped through her torso, neck and chest. With nothing left to do, the human instinct of flight took over her and she ran. Kitty ran for her life, her heart pounding like never before, air coming into her lungs in uneven breaths and adrenaline pumping into her blood.

The girl didn't think, didn't need to, her body took control. Her powers had manifested itself and she ran through solid objects, benches, trees, people, cars and buildings in her escape, the bullets and sounds of pounding feet right behind her all the way she ran. She could barely process the fact that she was phasing though solid objects. In that moment, all she could do was run. She would puzzle the strange anomaly later.

Kitty phased herself into the wall of a small clothing shop and froze. The young girl knew that she needed to blend in if she were to escape the MSF and make it home. Fear ruled her brain now, but she knew she had to let it go, for at least awhile to get home. She only prayed that her parents would understand and not kick her out or turn her in. Kitty had known of people who that had happened to, in her classes at school. It was regular for people to just periodically disappear.

Thanking her luck that she had run into a thrift store, due to her minimal amount of money, with none of the people noticing her strange appearance, she quickly looked for some clothes to blend in. Looking around, she saw that no one was paying attention to her. Grasping a pair of stylishly worn jeans, she nearly screamed in surprise as her hand went past it. She tried again, but her hand still phased. She started to panic, but she told herself to calm down and concentrate. A few more tries later, she had the jeans in her hand. Heading to another section, she quickly picked up a vintage T-shirt, and only phased through it once. Grabbing a zip up hoodie, with relative ease, she went up to her counter to pay for her things, before going out, she changed into her new wardrobe, hiding her old clothes in her backpack, all the while having difficulty with her powers.

When she was done, she looked completely different from her usual preppy look, she looked more vintage now. Even in the heat of fear and uncertainty, Kitty Pryde could put together a great outfit. Trying her hardest to concentrate, she focused on reaching the doors and pulling it open as to not attract attention. After that was done, she pulled the hood over her head and rushed home, trying not to attract attention. She felt numb and in shock, that somehow that what had happened hadn't sunk in yet in accordance to her need for survival at the moment.

She sprinted the last few blocks to her house and when she finally reached the white doors of number 14, she nearly cried. Kitty ran up and began to bang on the door, too scared to get her keys. Just as her father was about to open the door, she lost her balance and fell through the front door into the arms of her father where she broke down in tears, hood falling from her cloaked face.

"Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me," she cried over and over again, tears streaming down her face, her voice cracked and hoarse. Her father wrapped his arms around her, but recoiled in surprise when he was met with air, his hands going through her emotionally distraught daughter. This only caused Kitty to cry out even more, about to reach hysterics. Her mother's voice calmed her a bit.

"Kitty, honey, it's alright. Please, it's okay, we don't hate you. We love you Kitty," she said, hoping that she could reach out to her girl. Hearing that caused Kitty to revert back from her phased form and allow her father to wrap her in a comforting embrace.

"What happened, sweetie?" asked her father, knowing that his daughter's change in clothing and state of mind had a lot to do with what had to have happened to her when she was at school or coming home.

"T-T-They SHOT her," she wailed, in pain, "S-She's d-d-dead."

"Who, honey, who was shot?" asked her mom.

"Melody. Melody's dead," she whispered in anguish.

Her parents were taken aback. Her father's voice sounded above her, "Let's go into the sitting room and talk about this, alright, Kit?" he said. He felt his daughter nod in assent and led her to the large couch there, sitting her down, because Kitty was just too traumatized to do so herself.

"What happened, Kitty?" asked Mr. Pryde and then Kitty launched into a tearful recount of the events that transpired when she was walking home with her best friend and then her parents knew, they knew that they had no choice but to run and go to the Bishop, for otherwise their daughter would be killed.

Not wasting a moment, the Prydes packed their lives in a few suitcases and boxes piling them in their sedan, replacing the plates with expired ones to throw off the police or MSF that would undoubtedly come searching for them.

They drove for what seemed like hours until they reached a dilapidated part of the greater Chicago area. The word on the street was to all those who had mutant children and wanted them spared should appeal to the Bishop. It was part urban legend and part myth. No one knew if it was fact, or a work of the MSF to take more mutants, but it was their only shot. What would you do if your child were a mutant and you had no where to turn, lest you wanted to resign them to their death?

It was told the man had some sort of contract or deal with the MSF. There was an abundance of mutants, more showing up everyday, more than the MSF could handle, so they allowed some to be taken by the Bishop for his work. This was not generally known, but the Prydes knew it was their only chance. No one knew what it was, just that it was hard and backbreaking, but you and your children would live and not be persecuted, it was a heavy compromise, but what choice did they have?

The neighborhood screamed ghetto. It was a rundown block, a ghost town. Worn pieces of wood boarded up long broken windows which had cob webs spun in between the shards. Old newspapers, garbage, glass and who knows what was spread all over the cracked asphalt of the road. The sidewalks were crumbling and the buildings were falling down, the bricks poking out at odd angles. You could see the various coats of paint that once colored the store fronts and the signs of definite age from the various flyers and posters still pasted on the walls.

Loud music blared from a building in the center of it all, spray painted with intricate graffiti, much newer than anything else on the block, and with that sign of life, they decided to look there first. Resigning themselves to their fate, they got out of the car, leaving their belongings and made for the building with the loud music and graffiti. Eyes and flashes of color would show itself through holes in the building and the roof every now and then; they knew they were being watched. Reaching the entrance, they saw a teenage boy leaning against the door frame, blocking the way in, strewn with stings of beads, sheer scarves and ribbon for ambiance, with an appearance akin to Sid Vicious. His dark hair was long and messily spiked in all directions and coming apart as the gel wore off. It had red streaks dyed running through it. Piercings could be seen on practically every inch of his face and ears. Tattoos peeked out from his clothes, tight torn and worn black jeans with many studded belts, a tight white T-shirt with a band emblazoned on the front with an intricate design and picture of said band and a studded leather jacket. Chains, leather wrist cuffs, and large clunky buckled biker boots completed his outfit. He regarded them with casual interest as if bored.

"You're here to see the Bishop," he said flatly and to the point, it was a statement, not a question. His voice was deep and held a menace to it, sounding strange from his lanky frame.

"Yes," said Mr. Pryde softly, not knowing if he should trust the boy.

He stared down at Kitty with a raised eyebrow, sizing her up, "You're a pretty little gal," he winked at her, getting serious, he said, "My name is Rath. You must first see Sage. Follow me."

He brushed back the curtain of beads, scarves and ribbons, leading them inside the building. It was a rave inside. The music was thumping and teenagers were dancing to the beat of the song, swaying their bodies. Some wore clothes like the boy leading them, many wore different clothes. There were girls who wore clothes reassembling the Japanese street look with layers and skirts, Goths, punks, eurotrash, brightly dressed clubbers, sophisticated dressers and just ordinary boys and girls in ordinary clothes. But the ordinaries still had an edge to them for some reason, certain rawness. They all belonged here. They all fit. A DJ spun the discs in the corner at his turntables; there was room for a live band on the stage. Speakers were everywhere. Colorful lights flashed, a disco ball cast its strange light on them as it spun, and strobe lights made the room flash and smoke gave it mystery. There were many wall hangings on the wall showing brick and dark colored paints. Many other decorative items lined the walls. To the sidelines of the dance floor were mix matched chairs, sofas, tables and other furniture. There were some lava lamps and blue lights every here and there. A brightly lit bar could be seen in the corner. The Prydes could do nothing but stare at the spectacle before them, reminding them of Studio 54, although sans drugs. Kitty would inadvertently phase through a few of them every now and then, and it had been an 'interesting' car ride. The ravers stared back, regarding them with mild distaste. Strange phenomena would spark now and then, causing them to jump, but not causing any surprise from their guide. Rath lead them through the sea of moving bodies, swaying to the music, and to a corner with a small alcove.

Following Rath, they soon discovered the alcove to lead to a long hallway, strangely quiet, tranquil, unlike the dancers outside. Their footsteps echoed loudly on the white linoleum wall, contrasting with the black walls and deep red frames. At the end, a mix of punk, rock, electronic and industrial music could be heard, if they didn't know better, they would say that it reminded them of going back stage at a concert and meeting the rock stars, in their dressing room, a private party inside.

Opening the door, he called to a woman in the center of it all, "Sage, we have some more." She was surrounded by many others, talking to them.

The woman smiled at him, "Thank you, Rath, you may go now," she said in a deep resonating tone.

Then, she regarded the Prydes, staring at them for a moment. She had alabaster skin, shocking electric blue eyes and the darkest raven hair spilling in light curls on her shoulders and back. Tear like tattoos were on her cheeks from a mission gone wrong. The woman was no older than 25. She wore a black satin choker and a silver diamond pendant on her long neck. She wore a deep orchid colored one shoulder top that exposed her right shoulder and part of her midriff and pierced belly button. She wore tight black leather pants splattered with shiny paint and covered with patches of different fabrics, all very fancy and dark along with some studded belts. Large leather biker boots with buckles that were clunky and went up to her knees adorned her feet. Hanging off her torso was a short leather jacket with sleeves reaching her wrists, hem stopping above her belly button. It was studded and had an elaborate design embroidered on the back. On her hands were wrist cuffs and fingerless gloves.

"My name is Sage, you seek our asylum with Bishop. Please, follow me," said Sage, standing up from a velvet purple sofa and leading them to a corner of the room. She held her hand over a position on the wall for a moment and the wall fell back, revealing a square box of a room lit white, giving off a pale blue glow.

"In here, please, and don't worry, it's perfectly safe," she said, noticing their unease.

Once they were safely in and the panel of wall slide back and the room started to descend, she said five words that shocked them immensely, "Welcome to Underground Resistance X."

"What?" they all said at the same time.

"See for yourselves," she said as the elevator stopped its decent and the panel opened once more, revealing a cavernous metallic room, bustling with people and activity, mutant people. Their car could be seen in a corner of the room.

"Where are we?" asked Kitty, "and who are you really?" Her mother gave her a look for her rudeness, but she shrugged it off.

"Call me, Tessa, please, I am a telepath. Upstairs, it is all for show to throw off the MSF. I simply scanned your minds to know your intentions and whether or not you mean us harm, a safety precaution. This faction of the Resistance focuses on rehabilitating found mutants. We're basically a safe house. All of your questions will be answered soon enough," she said.

Walking on, she continued to lead them down the white tiled floors down a white hallway. Finding the correct room, she entered a series of numbers onto a key pad, which caused the reinforced metal door to open with a hiss. She stepped aside, motioning for them to go through. Inside, it revealed itself to be living quarters, much like a hotel. It had a small living area with a TV, sofas and coffee table. To the side were doors leading to two bedrooms and a bathroom. In the corner of the room, were the boxes and suitcases they had packed inside their car when they left their home.

They were about to question it, but Tessa spoke before they could speak, "We took the liberty to bring down your car and belongings, we knew you meant no harm from the moment you drove into our territory, it is monitored by hidden cameras, sensors and telepathy as well. Wait here and clean up, if you please, I will get Bishop for you." She bowed slightly, and then left the room. The Prydes were stunned and amazed at what had transpired. They made themselves more presentable and relaxed on the sofas for awhile. Not long after, the door hissed open and beside Sage stood a large bulky black man, the same age as her.

"My name is Bishop, but call me Lucas, welcome. We got reports on a shooting at Massey and De Green, today, a double homicide, a civilian and a mutant boy. A girl in the area escaped, showing a strange ability to let bullets phase past her body. She was you," he said, with a warm smile. Once again, they were about to question them, but he responded before they could, "We watch all MSF activity in the surrounding area."

"Welcome to the Resistance. You may be curious as to how we run. The truth is, we conceal ourselves with the MSF by hashing out a deal with them through manipulation. We supposedly run something close to a slave camp that protects mutants from the persecution of the MSF. In truth, we are a faction of the Resistance. We use this front to gain information from the MSF. When they check up on our operations, we have counter measures to induce illusions to make them think we are in fact truthful, by means of Tessa's illusionary powers," he explained, "We spread our word on the streets hoping that people like you will be keen enough to take a chance with us and reap the rewards."

Lucas Bishop was large and built like an NFL football player and tall. He wore a leather jacket with olive cargo pants, black shirt, dark belt and large boots similar to Sage's. A chain with a strange pendant was on his neck. His hair was dreadlocked and he sported a sort of bearded goatee. He had a scar like tattoo over one eye in the form of an M. He had gotten it during his stay at a prison, branded as a mutant.

"You are safe here. As Sage has told you, we are a faction of the Resistance focusing on rehabilitation. You are safe here; we're protected by technological means far more advanced than the MSF have as well as our mutant powers. You may stay as long as you need, or move to one of our more permanent dwellings at one of the headquarters in the Resistance's care. What you chose to do with your fate is wholly up to you. You may choose to join our cause and fight or help it anyway you choose, or simply seek asylum. We have schools and other facilities at the headquarters. We can help Kitty with her powers to make them controllable. You may choose to relocate and live in the normal world. It's all up to you," he said. Lucas then explained with Sage some of the inner workings of the Resistance and their options while in their care. They decided to take a night and think about their choices. The two agreed and left them to themselves.

"We will not pressure you. We simply seek for peace with those around us. When you decide, just tell us. Good night. Sleep well, for you have journeyed long," said Lucas before leaving them with Sage.

They Prydes had a loaded decision to make, but somehow, they wanted to do the right thing for Kitty and for others like her. They were tired of the deaths, the destruction of life and it was time for that to change. They decided then to join the Resistance and help out in the simple ways at the headquarters, gathering computer information, cooking food, help doing the hundreds of chores that needed help to do.

Yes, they would take control of their own fate.

* * *

Snow swirled all around him, cold and biting, if not beautiful, like thousands of sparkling dancers. The cruel wind whipped at his body, chilling him to the core. Above, the sky was dark, grey and overcast. Around him was him family, huddled over for warmth, not that it helped any. Moving at a slow pace, they opposed the wind, always proceeding onward, going forward, preserving. They were running. They were right behind them. 

Piotr Rasputin was a Russian farm boy, growing up on a small farm in Siberia, where his family had lived for generations. He was fifteen. It was a grueling work on the farm, but a simple rewarding lifestyle. The wondrous Urals stood behind the farm, standing guard; a lake shimmered below it and in front stood the farmhouse, simple and strong, beside it the barn. He was a gentle and caring person. He was a simple boy, a smart boy, a sweet boy, but what made him stand out were his marvelous artistic skills. He was a remarkable painter, possibly a great in the making. He was a mutant.

He lived a happy, normal childhood, with his parents, brother and sister. They were a close knit family that loved each other immensely. There was not a day they didn't laugh together.

* * *

The once quiet, secluded Siberia was aflame with blasphemy, spreading the word of mutant, of their wickedness, their sin. A successful ploy set up by the MSF, they soon came hunting, and so did every peasant in the country side, feeding off lies and deceit. The lynch mobs came to take them, the mutants who were discovered one by one. Tales of rape, torture, murder and true affliction circled his simple life. Mutants being found all over the country were being killed in grisly ways, more disturbing as the days went on, and he had seen them too. The head of a boy he had once played with as a child, a close friend, beheaded and impaled through a spike and embedded in front of the house he once lived, now burned and destroyed as was his loved ones, all because he had openly opposed the mutant hunt with a few wise words. A ghastly reminder to those who should be the taint of the Earth to disappear or else. (Think orc a la The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, the movie, when Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas find the place where Merry and Pippin escaped the orcs and went into Fangorn Forest to meet Treebeard) 

It was then, that the family of the boy, who once formed a metallic skin to save his beloved little sister from death by tractor, was forced to hide, flee the only home they knew, because the consequence was great. Packing a few sparse belongings and wrapping themselves in warm clothes, they braved the Russian winter and headed out to run from the oncoming army of MSF purifiers, ransacking homes and destroying all who associated themselves with the disgrace of mutants.

They were three days from their home, still trekking along in the blizzard, his parents, elder brother and younger sister, high up in the rocky Ural mountains. Fear cooled their veins as they fled from the MSF, always knowing that they were only just one step ahead and that they were closing in on them, that they may not live to see the next day or each other. Bullets cracked behind them suddenly, they were found.

Piotr metaled up and prepared to defend his family, but a voice stopped him.

"No, Piotr," said the pleading voice of his father, "Take your ziblings and run. Please, Piotr, please, live, just live."

"Nyet, fazher, I von't leave youss," he said.

"Piotr, please, it's zhe only vay. Just live, zon, just live. Know zhat your mozher and I love you all," said his father.

"Good bye, Piotr, Mikhail, Illyanna. Ve love you, so much," said his mother, tears in her eyes.

He was about to object, but something in the eyes of his mother made him do it, made him tearfully pick up and shelter his brother and sister and run. Tears streamed down the three siblings' faces, not daring to look back, just relying on Piotr to run for them, protect them. They could hear the sounds of bullets in the background as they sprinted away. The wind carried sounds in the distance. A cry lit the air, of torment and suffering, pain exemplified, male, their father, a second rang out of pain of loss, female, their mother. They fell to the ground dead, bullets ripped though their bodies, as the Russian winter claimed their corpses.

(Argh, the amount of character death in this story is starting to get tedious. I've killed off like ten characters, basically unimportant characters, but still. I'm getting really sad, I write that sweet fluffy bit at the beginning and now I kill off tons of people and really mess up Kitty and Piotr's pasts and scar them for life. I'm killing people left, right and center…it's really depressing.)

Sobs now wracked at the three Rasputin children, they knew they were orphans then, but they kept rushing away, too afraid to see the dead bodies of their parents, just hoping to fulfill their final wishes to them. But the guns grew nearer still and they ran out of hope. The bullets began to ricochet off Piotr's metallic body as he ran with hard sounding clangs. Piotr didn't know is he could run anymore, but the sounds of his siblings edged him on, running for their lives, but he knew he couldn't keep it up any longer, the upscale run was tiring him and quick.

Suddenly, he reached a solid rock face. There was no where left to run. The children looked at each other, and at that moment said goodbye to each other, hoping to meet again, saying that they loved each other one last time.

But they were surprised. It was a miracle.

A beam of red light shot through the ranks of the MSF operatives behind them, shattering their ranks and causing an eerie red glow and many to go down. An invisible force lifted them up and hurled them off to the sides, knocking them unconscious. Angel's feathers pummeled the soldiers and sliced at them, while a purple glowing spike danced, moving in lethal strikes, taking down the left over soldiers. They all wore near identical black leather jackets, cargo pants, gloves and boots. The four approached the three huddled children, tears frozen to their faces, offering sincere condolences and understanding of their situation, and the three recently orphaned children knew that they could relate to them.

A look of sympathy crossed Jean's face as she approached the children, all sobbing. She knew why. She understood, so well, the anguish they were going through, seeing loved ones die before your eyes. She had watched her best friend die, trampled by the mobs as they chased after a small girl.

"I'm Jean. Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked lamely, coming up to them and giving them some semblance of comfort. They shook their heads. She soon found herself helping the girl, Illyanna up to get them to the plane.

"You'll be safe with us, now," said Betsy, feeling so hopeless in that moment, "We're part of the Resistance. I'm Betsy." She and Warren helped Piotr up.

"Zhank you for your kindness," said Piotr softly, edged by the torment in his voice.

"It's no problem. I'm Warren. What are your names?" asked the Angel, feeling every bit as useless as Jean and Betsy at that moment. Sure, they saved the children, but they couldn't help their parents. It was a bittersweet victory.

"My name iz Piotr Rasputin and my brozher is Mikhail and my zister is Illyanna," replied Piotr, bravely. The only one who could speak at this moment.

"We'll be taking you all to our base. I'm Scott. You'll get everything you need there. I know you probably don't want to hear this right now, but you'll be okay, and you will find a family. A wonderful family, trust me," he said, helping up Mikhail. Something about these people and their warmth made the three Rasputin siblings trust them and know that they were right, that somewhere somehow everything would work out.

A short walk later, they were met with a small dark colored aircraft, perfectly aerodynamic and sleek with a roomy cabin to fit all of them comfortably. Inside, the four wrapped the children in warm blankets, out from the cold, and offered them comfort and sympathy from their own pained experiences, telling them stories of hope and light that rooted from the Resistance.

Their names were Jean Grey, Cyclops, Angel and Psylocke, they had tried to reach them, but they were too few working to help the area they were assigned. Jean and Scott were now in their early twenties and married, so were Warren and Betsy, nearing their thirties and already having children at home to take care of. Gathering the cold, traumatized children, they shepherded them into a small stealthy aircraft and flew them to the small base that had recently been expanded in Siberia, where they would join the MSF, fighting in the memory of their slain parents. In time, they would heal, but the pain never really goes away.

* * *

The sun beat down on him; he figured it wasn't long until he went. At least it wouldn't be like some dog, he'd have his dignity, his pride and his body intact. The ground below his tired weary feet were ochre brown and cracked from the dry heat. Nothing green was insight. All that was visible was the taunting cerulean blue sky and the glorious golden sun burning into his body. Chocolate brown rock jutted from the ground forming strange structures. He was trudging along the ground, beads of sweat dancing down his face and neck, hunched over, ready to collapse at any moment from heat exhaustion. Still, he went on, just putting one foot in front of the other, wanting to cover as much ground as he could before he died. (I just realized what a Lion King scene this is, very reminiscent of when Timon and Pumbaa find Simba…) 

His name was St. John Allerdyce. He was fourteen. He was running.

Last night had been the worse of his entire sorry life. His life was a series of hardships and pain. It had never been easy for him. For years, he had lived in an orphanage, taken by social services after finally being abused to the edge of breaking by his aunt and uncle. He was an alcoholic; she was a manic depressive on high medication, not the best combination. He had been sent to live with them when his parents died in a car accident when he was two. John then rode the trail of social services which lead him to home after home of cruelty and anguish. (This is a modified version of the past I gave him in 'A Mutated Existence'.)

He turned to gangs on the streets to get away from it all, and he was only getting into more and more trouble. John soon got into a car accident when the miscreants he was with decided to try some grand theft auto. They were a strange group of social outcasts ranging from around six to twenty something. The older kids had stolen a car, a Cadillac Escalade and shoved the many of them into the car, driving like maniacs down the crowded Sydney streets. Soon, the cops came after them, and one hell of a car cash took place, breaking several records of such lunatic things. Inside, the younger ones started to get scared; this was not supposed to be happening. The driver in his late teens, blew a red light, pedal to the metal, but it was not enough, several cars unable to stop, rammed into the car, tearing the giant beast to shreds and throwing him from the car, landing a nice stay for him in the hospital.

Finally, when he was nine years old, he had been adopted by a wonderful family, the Deacons. Mary and her husband Mark had adopted him, since Mary learned of all his troubles after looking at his case as she was one of the officers on scene after the crash. He had it good after that, a great life of love and happiness with a wonderful family that loved him. They really truly loved him, something he hadn't experienced since his real parents died.

For five years, it was a wonderful existence, one that would end all too soon. Shortly, after his fourteenth birthday, he developed his mutant powers. Mark and Mary helped him to hide it well enough, but it was becoming a true burden to conceal with the MSF always on the prowl, but still they persisted, even as they grew more desperate. His brothers and sisters would help, but even that was not enough in the end.

* * *

They lived in an acreage near one of Australia's national parks. To one side of the house was the cracked path to the main road and to the other side stretched the unforgiving outback. One night, pounding resonated from the door, looking out the window and seeing the MSF surrounding his home, he knew he was done for, but his family would not give him up. 

Mary hid him in the basement while the entire family was questioned upstairs. When it became apparent that they wouldn't give him up, they decided to punish them for their traitorous solidarity with execution. They tried to fight as they were bound and gagged, but there were just too many of them, and below, John could hear the struggling, the punches, the breaking furniture and glass, the shouts and screaming, the shots and then silence.

He listened huddled in a linen closet as the sergeant ordered his men to line up his family in a row in the living room. Then his commanded yell, ordering his men to prepare to fire, and then the command to shoot, the deafening sound of bullets being fired and the sounds of the bullets meeting their targets with pained screams and thuds of impact and fallen bodies. Then silence, piercing silence; they were gone, dead. Sobs wreaked his body as he mourned for them.

He began to hear the sergeant order his men to search the house for him and John knew he would not be met with the kind fate of his family, his would be worse, so much worse. His dignity, pride and humanity would be stripped from his soul. He knew he couldn't dishonor the deaths of his family like that. So grabbing a backpack, he packed what little he could, salvaging quietly in the basement, making sure that his lighters were in tow. Then he broke the small window in the basement and made a break for it.

First, a massive fireball erupted from his palm and attacked the troops waiting outside, distracting them. Then he ran, making sure to use his flames to protect him from the onslaught of MSF soldiers, sprinting into the night, entering the dangers of the outback.

So here he was, three days after his harrowing life ended, when they killed his family. He was suffering in the sun and ready to die, join his family. His lips were cracked, his throat parched and dry, he ran out of food and water, not long ago. He had known how to survive in the outback, but his heart wasn't in it anymore. Only despair lived there now. John collapsed in the scorched caked earth of the Australian outback, laying spread eagled face up, staring into the clouds, just memorizing this moment, the heat of the air, the blue of the sky, the pale white of the clouds, that black dot descending towards him…then he blacked out.

* * *

Bright lights assaulted his eyes, blinding him momentarily. When he refocused, he screamed. Peering over at him was a humongous blue lion ape creature. 

"Ah, so our Aussie here awakes," said Dr. McCoy, disregarding his scream, very much used to it as many patients had done so before him, "My name is Doctor McCoy, but please call me Hank."

"Thare are blue liyons in heaven?" he asked, confused, using his arms to lift his body up a bit. He could see he was in some sort of hospital, in a bed and nicely decorated room.

Hank chuckled, "No, my boy, you are not in heaven, you are in my med lab, in the Resistance headquarters in Canada."

"Royt, Oy knew that," said John, "You shoulda left moy ta die," he whispered.

"No, my boy, we very well couldn't. I know how you feel; we all know how you feel. You can make a difference here. We can help you," said Hank, lending a comforting paw.

"How did Oy end up here, anyway?" asked John, changing the subject, still not inclined to live, but not one for suicide.

"Well, a week ago," started Hank, John gave him a confused look, "You've been out for four days with heat exhaustion, dehydration, and other ailments. Anyway, a week ago, our professor noticed a large spike of mutant power in your region of Australia in Cerebro. We did some investigations and found out what happened," he said sadly, "I'm so sorry," he said sincerely, "Well, we knew you had escaped, but it took awhile to find you in the outback. We brought you to headquarters as we have better treatment for your condition than in our outback base. You can stay here as long as you'd like, join or just do whatever you'd like."

"Oh," said John dumbly, "Listen, ya hospitality and wot noyt is all good and stuff, but I think Oy'd just loyke ta sleep this all over." He really didn't feel like socializing much, especially when the pain was still so near for him.

"Alright," said Hank, reluctantly, he wasn't really all that great when it came to dealing with teenagers, at least he had a few more years to prepare until his own kids reached that stage, "But just know, that we're here for you and that we're not asking you to join, just understand us a little. It's all we ask."

John nodded and Hank left him. John fell into an uneasy sleep then.

* * *

When John woke up later, he was once again assaulted by the lights. It was about a week after he had woke up in the base, and he had dug himself into a self hating rut, just like another boy who once had problems letting go, so putting two and two together, the professor thought it would be beneficial for the boys to bond. 

"Oh bloddy hell, why do all hospitals insist on these God damned lights," he mumbled.

"Zhey need zhe lighting for emergencies and operations," said a deep Russian accented voice. John looked around and noticed a boy his age, maybe older with short black hair and blue eyes that was built like an American football player. He regarded John with mild curiosity, over his bulky sketchpad, sitting in a chair in the corner away from the door.

"Wot are you doing in here?" he asked of Piotr suspiciously.

"Sketching," said the boy, John gave him a look that said 'yeah right.'

"Zhe adults vant me to talk to you and my little zister vanted to play hide and zeek. It's a razher good hiding place," said the stoic Russian.

"Royt, I'm John, wot's your name?" asked John, hearing about the boy's sister only made it hurt as he knew his younger sister was dead.

"I'm Piotr," he said.

"And ya need ta talk ta moy, why?" asked the Aussie.

"I need to talk to youss, because you are angry, upset, depressed, self-loazhing, and in grieving," said Piotr simply.

"Yeah, mate," said John, "that pretty much sums it up, not loyke ya understand."

"I understand, John, more zhan you know. I know you're angry, because I vos angry, I vos depressed and upset, I hated myself for not doing more and it hurts to grieve," replied Piotr.

"So woy are you here?" asked John, "I'm pretty much a lost cause. I don't have anything."

"Because I know vhat it's like. I still do. And because zhey zhink zhat it'll be 'good' for me," said Piotr, "I zhink I believe zhem now."

"Woy?" asked John.

"Because it hurts, and I just vant it to stop. I zhink you do too. I just vant to stop hating myself. I get it, trust me. My parent told me to run, zave myself and my zister and brozher, vhile zhey gave us a chance to live by sacrificing themselves. I get it, John. You hate yourself because youss could've done more, anyzhing to help zhem, but it didn't happen and you zee it replay in your head, over and over again, just killing you all over again. I understand. I feel it. And I'm not over it, I don't zhink I ever will, but I vant to heal and stop zhis," said Poitr. John didn't say anything, he was too stunned.

"Don't youss feel selfish right now? You got to live, John. Yet you feel terrible. Don't you vant to just let zhat go? It hurts, but you can't let it control you. You're just letting zhem vin if you do, John and zhey can't vin, zhey can never vin. It's not your fault. It's zhere's. Zhey took zhem away John, not you. It's not your fault zhat you couldn't protect zhem," said Piotr.

"But it wos, I stayed in the basement, while they executed them at gun point!" he shouted, "I should've been up thare, doing something. I can control God damned foyre. I could've done something. I could've done something," he cried, tears running down his cheeks from his green eyes. Piotr went over to John and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"And I can turn my body to metal, John. I could've protected my parents from zhose bullets, but I didn't. Because if I did, my siblings vould be dead too, and so vould I, for they vould've caught us," said Piotr, "Look John, you lived, you can make a difference, it's hard, I know, I've been there, I've hated myself too. But look at yourself. Zhey vould not vant youss like zhis. Zhey vould not vant zhere lives to be in vain. You can do so much good here, John, honor zhere memory. And show zhe MSF zhat no more children zhould lose their parents or loved ones," finished Piotr.

"By God, you're good," said John, his old personality shining through.

"Did it vork?" asked Piotr.

"Yeah, sort of," said John, "It still hurts, but I don't wanna keep doing this to myself."

"I know, me too," said Piotr.

"You believe that?" asked John.

"Most days," said Piotr. They both smiled and an easy going friendship would form between them.

"Oy just want this ta end, Oy just want peace," said John.

"Me too," said the stoic Russian.

* * *

Wanda Maximoff was born in the Resistance headquarters with her twin brother Pietro to Erik and Magda Lehnsherr. The world was a dangerous place and when they were six, their mother died in an attack by the MSF. Feeling that the lifestyle he lived in the Resistance was unsafe for his children, he put them in the care of the Maximoffs, knowing it was safer for them that way. They lived in a secluded village in a small Eastern European town. He was motivated by grief, maybe, but he just couldn't bare it if he lost his children too. Erik would visit them often, as much as he could, tell them his stories, his hopes and dreams. 

This would all change for the worse when they were sixteen.

One night, they were attacked, finally discovered after ten years of safety by the MSF. The Maximoffs told them to run and so they did, Pietro lifting her sister and running like the wind away, to where they didn't know. All that they knew was that they heard screams of death and gun shots as they left the house, causing their grief to fall in heavy tears, sparkling in the light of the moon.

They ran into the forests, the hope that came with spring freezing in their hearts. Suddenly, their powers began to fade unexpectedly, a negation field had been set up and they knew it wouldn't be long before they were swarmed by the MSF. They used every trick their father had taught them to avoid them, but it was not enough. They were everywhere.

Agents jumped out at them and with her remaining powers, Wanda hexed them all into submission, but she didn't notice the one who was about to shoot her from behind. Pietro saw this and instantly ran to his sister's side, using his last burst of speed, taking the bullets for her in a loud crack and grunt as it hit his body. Wanda screamed and prayed to God her twin would be alright and that was when it all went black.

Wanda woke up in a cell with her brother. All she knew was that he was in immense pain, they hadn't taken out his bullets and the injuries festering, his breathing ragged. She felt so helpless. Days passed, harder than the last. The guards would beat them and hurt her brother's injured body even more and she could do nothing. It felt so hopeless to her. She could feel Pietro's life slipping away and she couldn't do anything about it. He would black out and no matter how hard she begged or tried to do as much as she could to help him live, it wouldn't help matters. She wrapped him in the blankets and stuck close to him to warm his body, but nothing helped, he was fading fast. Wanda could only pray that help would come soon.

* * *

Wanda and Pietro woke up to the sounds of hurried footsteps one night. The next thing they heard was metal ripping the bars open, then the Wolverine appearing before them, telling them to hurry, picking up Pietro, mindful of his injuries. They krept into the hall, where Storm, Beast and Mystique were doing their best to get everyone out of the miserable conditions of their cells and fight off the soldiers at the same time. The conditions were sickening, and absolutely filthy, the walls were caked with dirt and grime and the floors were covered with sewage. Sage and Bishop were focused solely on the oncoming mob of operatives, blocking the halls to their right, Psylocke and Angel focused on the left. They herded the escapees of the prison over to teleporters for transport out of the fire. Magneto used what metal he could against them and Charles tried to take out as many as he could with his psychic powers. Over the years, the enemy got smarter and the Summer Liberation style rescue didn't work well anymore. Guns were fired and bullets flew, explosions were everywhere. 

Inside the jet, Marie and Kurt did their best to help all those on board and give them the medical treatment they needed. They were allowed to come because they had earned it by their relentless training and work ethic. Meanwhile Cyclops and Jean Grey guarded the jet from below, making sure it wasn't' compromised by the MSF. More and more teleporters would bring in the prisoners, but the MSF outside would not let up and they were losing the battle of numbers. What used to be a big operation could now only have one jet due to the sophisticated enemy.

Their line of teleporters were compromised for a moment and all that the Resistance could do was fight their way outside with those that had been taken captive, to where the jet lay, flames alight underneath. Some had been shot down. Running away from the facility, they could see that they would lose this unless something happened to turn the tides.

All of a sudden, Erik stopped running. His friends, family and teammates looked back at him confused.

"I'm sorry," he said simply, "This is the only way. It's time to be with Magda."

"Erik, please," pleaded Charles Xavier, knowing what was to happen. Jean's telekinetic field would only protect them from the bullets for so long at a distance.

"Charles, keep fighting for me, for all of us who have perished. Do not give up hope," Erik said as he lifted himself into the air above all he held dear, he could see the pain in their eyes as he did that. He regarded his long time friend sadly, but could see the understanding in his eyes, amongst the sadness.

"Keep to the love that binds you together," he told to all those that loved each other, "It's what keeps you strong, never forget that. I cherished you all," he told them, regarding Raven, Logan, Hank, Ororo, Jean, Scott, Betsy, Warren, Tessa and Bishop. They all looked at him miserably.

"Wanda, Pietro," he called to them, from above, "I love you, both. Remember that. Please remember an old man's word, it's the truth. Forgive me. I only wish we had more time together."

Wanda and Pietro cried then, their world was ripped apart.

Magneto flew high above them, yanking all the metal, automobiles, guns, the very metal of the facility from their holdings. He slashed them at those who opposed him, like an angered god. Metal wrapped around bodies and held them to the ground. The soldiers fell to their feet as the metal was jerked from the ground. He hurt them, used the metal to pierce their bodies, crash into them. It wreaked havoc. He was expelling his ultimate power, showing why he was the master of magnetism. All his comrades could do was watch in awe as they ran to the waiting jet. They entered and started it, quick as possible. Magneto gave them the leeway to lift off, by using his power to propel them forward. (Wow, this is so Jean Grey a la X2…strange how the death parts have relations to other movies.)

Just as they were in the air, sailing to safety, they saw it, the ending to the life of one of their founders in a barrage from plastic guns with plastic bullets that he couldn't possibly avoid and so, he was slain, crashing to the Earth to the terror of the Resistance members in the jet. No matter how much, you saw it; it still hurt, every time. They were hysterical. Tears were shed; it was surprising a river did not form from tears.

* * *

"Ohmigosh!" cried out Kitty Pryde. She was one of the mutants waiting in the hangar bay with stretchers and other medical supplies. She had seen Kurt and Marie exit the jet, helping Wanda off, who was in shock, shaking, watching as their parents, Ororo and Hank carefully got Pietro off the jet, IVs and other needles and contraptions already stuck to his body. Bandages were wrapped around his torso, from the emergency operation Hank had done when he started to bleed internally. He was being hefted in a gurney by Logan and Hank. Ororo made sure his vitals were alright, while trying to soothe the boy in immense pain. Raven's arms were laden with the IVs and painkillers already pumping into his body from the bags and tubes. 

Kitty pushed past the crowds, phasing through them with her stretcher, making sure she got there first to meet the group and help in any way she could.

"The ER is set up, Dr. McCoy," said Kitty as Hank and Logan lay the gurney on the stretcher and strapped in Pietro.

"Thank you, Kitty," said Hank, before pushing the stretcher at a rapid speed, Raven following with her collection of IVs and other medication. A space in the hangar was formed for the two to rush Pietro to the ER, Logan and Ororo, not far behind. Kitty watched the whole scene unfold, with glassy eyes, the pain stabbing in her heart once more. The doctor would work hard tonight, but not many would live through the night. No matter how many they saved, how much good they did, this was still the painful reality and it never got easier. All you could do was help the ones that lived and that was what she did.

Kitty bravely approached the small crowd at the base of the jet, seeing the pain on their faces and noting not all of the team members were present. She hoped that some were still in the jet, taking care of the wounded prisoners and other teammates.

"W-What happened?" she asked of Kurt and Marie. The three had become fast friends once she and her family had moved to the Canadian base, deciding to help the efforts of the Resistance. She herself, like Marie and Kurt had trained as well, to become a fighter and one of the agents, but tonight, she was helping work the medical facility. It was no less important and she was not selfish about not going, knowing the risks and consequences all too well.

She had bonded with Kurt first, he was easy going and funny, a rarity in the life they lead due to all the pain and suffering. They saw eye to eye on many things and had the same bright personality and optimism in life. They had met on her first day at school in the facility, in English class. She had known no one and Kurt had took it upon himself to get to know her and help her out on her first day by waving her to his table and showing her around the base. Kurt showed her that her mutation was not a curse, that her life could be everything she had wanted it to be and that there were worse things that could happen and she had come out on top. Both had the same bright disposition and outlook on life. But she could also see that Kurt was suffering because his sister was suffering, so she decided to do something about it. Three years later, they had emerged the best of friends.

Marie was harder to crack. She had become withdrawn and depressed at the manifestation of her powers, making her dark and moody, changing her forever from the bright and happy little girl that Logan and Raven had adopted. This caused many arguments between her and her mother and a new bond that formed between herself and her father. In her first training session, Logan had paired them together and she had a lot to learn, so Marie had no choice but to help her along the way, albeit reluctantly. Marie was quick to anger and snap at her, but Kitty could see that she was suffering in herself, and that it was the only way she could defend herself. She could see the pain in Marie's eyes, and decided that from then on, she would do all she could to help her, and befriend the girl, show her that her powers were not the end of the world. It was in a way, repayment to Kurt for being such a good person to her. Kitty wanted to help Marie, not only because the girl needed it, but because her brother suffered from it too and wanted his sister back. It would be Kitty that would break a bit of Marie's shell and allow the girl to let loose and do the normal things that her powers did not allow and for the first time, Marie had a best friend aside from her brother.

She knew Wanda, like Kurt and Marie did from the times when she would visit the base with her brother, seeing her father. She could be moody and spiteful, but inside, she was a good heart. Wanda and Pietro had become friends with them because of their close contact since their parents were some of the most important people in the Resistance. Kitty's father had found himself as one of the best hackers, if not the best, in the Resistance due to his software job before, teaching his daughter to follow in his footsteps. They formed a friendship because they could help Pietro and Wanda with the loneliness and isolation of where they lived in Eastern Europe, helping them forge a bond to the outside world.

"It vas a difficult mission, Katzhen, and zhen zhe teleporters vere compromised. Zhey vere trapped, so zhey had to make a break for it…and zhen…an zhen…" Kurt broke down then, tears in his eyes, remembering the sacrifice. It never got easy for them.

Marie placed a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder, "Erik sacrifaiced himself, Kit, so we could all escape," she whispered, tears in her eyes too, "And Pietro was reallah badly shot befoh they put them in tha facility. He's in a reallah bad way."

Kitty's heart broke at the news, her heart going to her friend, "Wanda, I'm so sorry," she said, clasping the girl in a hug, letting her sob on her shoulder.

"I know….I know…I just…I just hope Pietro'll be okay…I don't know what I'll do if he's not," said Wanda.

Neither of her friends dared give her false hope. In their lives hope was all they had, but it could be dangerous.

"We all do, Wanda," said Kitty, simply. She then led Wanda, as well as Kurt and Marie, to the med bay, to wait for news on Pietro's condition.

* * *

Their work was not over, as soon as they arrived at base, Beast began taking charge of the emergency facilities, trying to save as many of the escapees as he could, but it was a grisly job. It was too late for many of them. The conditions in the prisons had worsened in the years. It was not uncommon for the mutants to die from starvation, disease and injuries sustained from capture. The MSF had taken to making them suffer in this way, taunting the Resistance with their efforts. 

Dr. McCoy worked feverishly on Pietro, but nothing her tried helped the boy, his state was utterly hopeless. Hank was truly testing his medical knowledge, but nothing could work. He knew he was just continuing because he couldn't accept the fact that Pietro was dying, not when Erik had tried so hard to save him. His sacrifice could not go in vain. It was just too cruel. He had been lodged with the bullet too long, it had damaged his organs profusely, it was a miracle he was even alive right now on the operating table.

"Pass me the scalpel, Ororo," requested Hank. Ororo did so, she had been helping Hnak for the past hour, trying to save Pietro, they both knew he was a too far gone, but they refused to stop.

A voice broke Hank from his efforts on the operating table.

"H..Hank, stop, it's too late, I know," whispered Pietro Maximoff, "Let me go, it's all you can do. You've tried your best."

"But…But…" said Hank, refusing to stop.

"Hank, it's time," said Ororo sadly.

"Please, stop lying to yourself. Let me join my father in honor," said Pietro.

Hank ripped off his face mask and nodded, sadly.

"I'm sorry," said Hank.

"I know," said Pietro, uttering his dying breaths, "Please let me see Wanda."

Hank nodded and exited the operating room. Ororo did her best to make him comfortable for his last few moments. He shot a grateful look at the weather goddess.

* * *

Wanda was waiting outside the room in a chair, along with everyone from the mission. She was surrounded by her friends. Kitty, Kurt and Marie were there at her side, offering comfort. They gave her encouragement, comfort, faith and hope, what little there was. 

Their quiet conversation ended when a downcast Hank exited the operating room, with crestfallen features.

"I'm so sorry, Wanda, it's too late, there's nothing I can do," said Hank, completely dejected, his ears and shoulders were drooped, his entire body language screamed sadness.

Wanda nodded, bravely, trying not to cry again. It was too heartless that her father and brother would die in the same night, both forfeiting their lives for her. The guilt ate at her soul.

"C-Can I at least see him?" she asked softly, her face marred with the trails of tears.

Hank nodded and led her in, while the others contemplated the cruelty of the world.

* * *

Seeing the poor state of her brother set her off on another round of tears, as she entered the operating room. His wounds were sewn and closed, but they would not help him anymore. Bandages covered his torso, masking the severity of his wounds. Pietro looked weak, defeated, but only in body, never in spirit. The boy was lying on a bed, that Ororo had moved him to, so that he would be comfortable. Pillows supported his strengthless head and a blanket gave him warmth. His body was bruised and broken and the heart monitors showed a fading heart beat. He didn't have much time left. 

"We'll leave you two," said Ororo. Pietro nodded and the couple left the twins for their last moments together.

"I'm SO SORRY!" shouted Wanda hysterically, the tears streaming down her face again.

"Wanda, it's okay, it's not your fault. Stop crying," whispered Pietro.

"I can't help it," she said back, coming up to her brother and sitting in the chair Ororo had thoughtfully prepared in front of her twin. She took his hand in hers.

Pietro smiled, despite it all, "I know. Don't let this take you over Wanda. You couldn't've helped me or dad. It was our choice. I'm sorry it hurts so much, but it's not your fault. Nothing you could've done would have changed anything."

"I promise you, I won't let this take me over," vowed Wanda, smiling at her brother through her tears.

"Good, Wanda, keep fighting for me, for mom and dad too. I'll get to see her soon. I miss her so much," said Pietro.

"Me too, tell her hi for me and tell her I missed her over the years, but we grew up okay," said Wanda.

"Okay," said Pietro.

"I know I didn't always show it, but you're my twin Pietro and through it all I always loved you, even when we were at each other's throats," said Wanda, laughing slightly at the memory of their fights.

"Don't worry, sis, I've always known that," said Pietro, "I'll be seeing dad tonight."

"Tell dad, that I love him," said Wanda, her voice breaking.

"Will do, sis," croaked Pietro, "Promise me you'll live for me. Live life to it's fullest for me. Cherish it and don't forget me."

"I will, Pietro," said Wanda.

"Good," said Pietro Maximoff, a satisfied smile on his lips, he'd gotten out all he needed to, "I love you, Wanda."

Wanda's tears blurred her vision, "I love you too, Pietro." Wanda felt his hand, loosen, the strength was gone. His eyes closed shut and she knew, knew that he was gone. She fell to the side of her brother's bed and cried, sobs wrecking her body, uncontrollably. The machines wailed around her. Pietro Maximoff, age 16, was dead. (I feel so bad. I've now killed two major canon characters. Just to let you know, I am doing no resurrections and such, so if they die, they're dead.)

* * *

Marie sat on a seat in the New York subway, on her way to a café to meet a target. It was her first solo mission, a dangerous one too. If she passed, she would be made a full fledged member of the Counterintelligence branch in the MSF as an agent. Her job was to get to know him follow him, find out who he worked for, any information that she could on the MSF and take him out, if necessary. She looked around the train, noticing the different people, the different lives. Her sketch book was out, and she was drawing their faces, it was calming for her. She had always loved to do that, it showed the stories of different people, different stories and different lives, yet colliding into one. It calmed her. Her mind was chaotic, so this stilled it some. 

Her world was one of chaos, torment and anguish, yet the hope and happiness she had found there made it all worth while. She supposed in her teenage years she had become somewhat of a rebel, every parent's worse nightmare. Marie supposed it had something to do with her powers. She was doomed to a curse of a touch and it had left her with a new attitude, taking away the optimism, innocence and brightness of her childhood, as every part of the world did eventually. Her brother Kurt and her best friend Kitty would help her through. With them, she could be normal, at least as much as she possibly could ever be. The relationship with her mother which had once been strained had gotten better, once they were able to let go of the past and forge ahead by talking thoroughly. It had been emotional, but Kurt and her father had been grateful that they were finally able to see eye to eye, out of desperation after a painful experience for her. Her father and she now shared a strange bond. It was the bond of two loners with painful lives, still trying to heal.

Her powers had manifested themselves in a day when Kurt, herself, Logan and Raven had gone above ground on a shopping trip, just trying to be normal with an image inducer for Kurt. They had run into some trouble with the MSF and in the battle that followed, she would be held in a choke hold by an MSF agent. The breath and life was being squeezed out from her and her family was helpless to watch, until the man's life force began to be sucked from his skin contact with Marie. She freaked and the man fell to the ground unconscious. Her parents and Kurt would win the battle and take her back to base where her powers were diagnosed and forever change her life, make her dark and depressive. She had the man's psyche in her head, and although it would fade in time, it was always there, a ghost taunting her, tormenting her, deliberately making her hate herself.

Things had changed greatly in her life, she wore clothes that covered her body head to toe, and had become to both crave and fear touch. Marie was 18 now. She was slightly withdrawn, she supposed, but it was necessary. She kept a thin veil of secrets away from her family and ones closest to her, because if they saw her inner secrets, they'd only see how scarred she was, how broken and how terrible. But her powers weren't the only thing that changed in her life. She had gained siblings once Logan and Raven married. The event brought a smile to her face. She still remembered the day well.

Her little brother Odin was now eleven now and a hyperactive rambunctious boy. He had Kurt's easy going disposition, but was a bit of a troublemaker. Not only did he have Logan's keen senses and healing factor, he also had his mother's ability for shape shifting, though much more limited at his age and current ability. The twins had been born and were now nine, a girl and a boy, Lindsay and Cole. Lindsay had long bright red hair, like Raven and golden cream colored eyes with a normal skin tone. Cole had black hair like Logan and his grey blue eyes as well, except he had taken after his mother with cobalt blue fur that matched Kurt's fur. Lindsay was outgoing and very talkative. She had a personality like Marie's before her mutation changed her. Cole was more of an introvert and slightly shy, except around his family and close friends. He had a bit of Logan's loner nature. Marie and Kurt loved them all and were close to all of them. They were a tight nit family really, even when Marie tried to shut them out. She failed miserably when it came to that. They were just wouldn't let her fall.

Her parents hadn't changed much, at least physically. Due to their mutations, they looked much younger than they should. Raven still looked in her late twenties at thirty six and Logan, well, he still looked in his thirties, although slightly battered around the edges as usual. They still had a unique loving relationship that withstood and held strong despite all the trials and tribulations of being in the Resistance. They cherished each other and their time together, aware it could end for them all too soon.

Hank and Ororo were much the same. Their love still held strong and close with their children aged 14, 11, and 9. Lysander, Zara and Tamara had grown up in the time that passed, fairly quickly, though due to the environment in which they lived, but they were still able to be children. His children's teenage years were going better than had been expected though. Lysander took after Hank in many ways, he was absolutely brilliant and surprised his father with his knowledge sometimes, but he possessed Ororo's wisdom and nurturing qualities and was able to work well around others. He developed many of Hank's powers. Zara was a bit of a free spirit. She had Ororo's personality, but was more fun loving. She had began to show signs of manifesting her mother's abilities. Tamara was sweet, introspective and quiet. She had a strange mix of both her parents' personalities and had yet to show any abilities.

Wanda would transfer to the Australian base after her brother and father's deaths. She wanted to go away from this place that reminded her so much of them and the pain, but still wanted to help the cause. She chose Australia for its warm weather and hopeful disposition. She would meet a boy there, John Allerdyce, who would use his sunny disposition to pull her out from despair, using a technique that had once been imposed on him, by a friend by the name of Piotr Rasputin. He took her from her low and helped bring her up again and find herself. They had only recently started dating. John had gone back to Australia to work in the base after living in the headquarters for awhile, wanting to see home, just as Piotr wanted to. Piotr was now working in the Russian base with his siblings, helping the efforts in the Russian countryside still plagued with a Salem witch huntesque problem of hunting mutants.

Logan would find Remy by chance a few years after he rescued him when the boy was twelve. Logan, Ororo and Raven were on a mission in the area around New Orleans sniffing around for a hidden compound in the city some where. Once they had found it, they had gotten into some trouble in which their secret identities had been compromised, so they had no choice but to seek refuge with Jean-Luc and the Thieves Guild at Ororo's suggestion. Once there, they had stayed with his family at the Guild's mansion, while at the same time completing their mission. Logan had been surprised to see Remy and so had he. The two kept secret the way they had known each other, as the way that they had escaped was something that they only shared between the two of them, even Raven didn't know the full story behind their escape. The two would keep in contact with emails over the years.

Warren and Betsy, Jean and Scott as well as Tessa and Lucas would get married and raise families, although in very different circumstances and such. Scott and Jean would become Xavier's right hand men after Erik's death and helped him run the Resistance. Betsy and Warren would continue to get information to further the cause of the Resistance in their circle of rich 'friends'. Tessa and Lucas would continue to run one of the most successful recruitment facilities and safe houses in the Resistance in Chicago, under the guise of a work camp or something of the sort, making mutants do unbearable labor in exchange for safety.

Over the years she had changed and especially when her powers had shown up, she had started to go Goth. She regularly wore dark clothes with lots of sheer fabric, although she covered up as much as she could, always wearing gloves. More than a few piercings adorned her body. Dark makeup would usually accompany her outfit, unless she was on a mission like now. It kept people away though, people she would hurt or hurt her. Kitty and Kurt could see passed it though and really tried to make her as normal as possible. They were part of the reason why she was still sane. She owed so much to them. They were close to her, very close, Kurt was her brother, but Kitty was her closest friend. They kept her up and made sure she didn't fall.

Currently on the subway Marie was sketching the faces of the various people in the train with her with quick precision. Her auburn hair with the white streak was concealed under a wig of red hair. Her makeup was minimal. He wore a pair of vintage style square rimmed glasses, with a black woolen toque to protect her from the cold of the New York fall. She wore a baby blue turtle neck sweater over a black cotton three quarter length sleeved shirt. This was paired with a pair of dark faded flared jeans, a black leather belt and flat heeled black leather boots, which were nice for walking. Over top all this she wore a thick navy blue pea coat that reached her mid calves. It was paired with a pair of black leather gloves and a deep woolen violet scarf. Underneath her leather gloves were a pair of lace ones that weren't as warm for when she went inside. She had a pair of dangly silver earrings with purple stones. Her ears were left free of her usual amount of earrings as was the rest of her body. A set of ear bugs in her ear lead to an MP3 player which played some softer alternative music she liked but usually didn't listen to. It was usually more Kurt's music. She had a huge black leather purse at her side, slung through her arm. It held her laptop, alias and other materials that she would need for her mission, including extra clothes and such.

Kitty had said she looked approachable and nice for once. She had told her that she didn't want to be approachable or nice, thus her outfit, to which Kitty merely laughed. Personally, she felt like Kitty in her outfit. It really wasn't her at all, which was why it was such a perfect look. She looked quiet and demure, respectable, quiet and just someone who was stylish, sophisticated and wealthy.

The subway lurched to a stop and Marie stowed away her sketch book and filed out the car invisibly with the rest of the crowd. She was posing as a graphic designer that was to be recruited into one of the Three's companies and was meeting with one of the head designer's of the company who also happened to be from a rich family and one of the largest supporters of the MSF. It would be infinitely useful to find all she could about him and his dealings. It was to be a week long undercover job.

Exiting the subway, she crossed the gates with the rotating spiels and climbed up a set of stairs bursting into the cold autumn air, assaulting her senses. She could smell the scent wafting from the hot dog venders, that heady scent of meat, which could make you sick. Marie could hear the bustle of the crowds, the snippets of conversations, the sounds from the road of the cars and the wind blowing at them. The few trees that lined the streets had leaves of brilliant yellow and red. She took all this in, as she walked down the street, but in her mind was a definite location, a cozy little coffee shop where she'd be meeting her target.

Walking for about ten minutes down the bustling streets of the New York afternoon, she finally reached the coffee shop, proclaiming its name of 'The Goddess Called Coffee' in twisted metal. It was in an elderly building made of sandstone with archaic designs and a few gargoyles. (weird, I know…I just tapped into the coffee addiction of some people, I for one, am not all that addicted, I just like iced coffees once in a while.) She entered the ethereal shop filled with the delicious aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Marie was a little early and didn't see her target, so she took it upon herself to find a table near the back of the shop with an unobstructed view of the entrance.

The shop was done in rich brown wood, with metal accenting, colorful draperies, brick and granite. The floor was a rich deep mahogany colored wood. The railings and panels were all of the same wood as well. On the walls, brick would peek out in some areas. Other areas were painted a warm red. Lights hung from silver twisted metal on the ceiling. There were silver decorations hung all over the place on shelves and walls. It was also used as coat hangers and other items. Many of the chairs were made from twisted metal with comfortable cushions of various colors. Draperies of different colors and fabrics were on the walls, giving an aura of ambiance and mystery. Many pictures, sculptures and works of art decorated the room nicely. Thick Asian rugs were on the wooden floor. The tables and table tops on the counter were all made of dark stony granite. There were booths with thick benches from velvety fabric and tables with twisted metal chairs as well as wooden ones. To the window was bar like seating with raised barstools. In the back was a raised area with sofas and tables. This was where Marie was. She was seated in a deep purple velvet easy chair in front of a large circular granite table and across from an identical chair.

She took the opportunity to set up her portfolio and other items, arranging them on the table for her prospective boss to arrive. She slung her jacket, scarf and gloves on the easy chair she would seat in. She set up the laptop with her jump cable. She was nearly set up when she saw her target enter. She had been told that her target would know her from a picture and description she had supposedly sent into the company with her application.

The man entering was very tall and concealed by a long dark coat. She couldn't quite see his features, but she knew it was the target from the way he looked at her with slight recognition from a reference photograph. He had a bag at his side at what she supposed were showings of what the company did and such. He began to walk towards her. Marie's heart pounded with nervousness, but she quashed it, taking relaxing breaths.

When the man approached her and was close enough, something in the recesses of her mind triggered. Now this wasn't uncommon due to the multiple psyches in her head, but she knew the memory was hers. The man felt familiar. Why? Well that would have to wait. For now, she had to stick to her alias.

* * *

Remy LeBeau was currently driving down the cold New York streets of autumn in his shiny black with red accenting Ferrari. The car whizzed through the busy streets, with the stereo pumping some of his favorite classic rock songs from the likes of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Metallica and Guns 'N Roses. He watched as the bright leaves of fall fell to the ground from the window of his car with the fall breeze. People bustled around crossing the street in packs, bundled up. He saw business men, punk dressed teens, mothers with their children, pretty much people from any and all walks of life congregating on the roads of New York to get to one place to the next. They were always interesting to watch. There was so much to be told by the way they looked, the way they walked or held themselves. He was driving himself to the location of a target for a job in the Resistance. He was to follow a target, get information from her by any means possible to find invaluable information on the MSF. He was in a section of the Resistance focused on counterintelligence and this was a big mission for him after a long string of solo work he'd been doing since he joined the bureau of the Resistance at 18. He had taken down many operations, gathered invaluable information and succeeded in everything he did. 

His life as a thief moonlighting for the Resistance had been interesting to say the least. After being adopted at seven into Jean-Luc's family, he had been trained as a thief for the Guild. He grew to be incredibly close to his elder brother Henri, who was two years older than him. They got into all kinds of trouble with his cousins Emil, Etienne and Theoren. They were quite a group, always pranking New Orleans, no one was safe, not even Jean-Luc, the Guild Leader of the Thieves. No one that is, except Tante Mattie, for she had mighty strong aim with her rolling pin and a temper to match.

He learned all the tricks of the trade and became one of the best thieves in the Guild. He had been a skilled pickpocket before Jean-Luc, but after, he was a master and not just at the craft of pickpocketing. Any trade of thievery, he could do. Remy was an excellent thief in all fields, there was not one area he was weak in. This earned him the respect of thieves twice his age and earned him a spot as a master thief at 16, something previously unheard of. All his training, of course, was excellently put to work for the Resistance as well. The many jewels that he stole and sold became money for the Resistance to use in a constant effort to beat the MSF. He not only was a Master Thief, he was also a powerful agent for the Resistance in counterintelligence due to his masterful skills learned as a thief.

He lived in New Orleans and helped run several of the Guild's safe houses for mutants which in turn helped the Resistance. It was work that was close to his heart, for he had been taken by the MSF as a child and abused and tested on like a rat in the prisons. Still, it would not be the last of torment he suffered for being a mutant. His father's many safe houses in New Orleans were secret business that even the Assassins didn't know about. The relationship with the Assassins was bitterly terrible. A rift had settled in the Guilds for decades, but when the Assassins slowly began to side with the MSF, it was the last straw and the Thieves Guild cut all contact, launching a full scale war between the two sides, more bloody than the war with humans against mutants, but the Thieves were coming on top. A peace agreement had once been forged that would've made Belladonna Boudreaux, daughter of the Guild leader of Assassins, wife to Remy, but the accordance was nullified when they tried to assassinate the LeBeaus at a gathering between the two families.

This was not to be the last hardship in Remy's life. His so-called first love, Genevieve had betrayed him and sold him out, during their time together on a mission to steal the Cheating Star with Henri. An altercation with Genevieve had shown her true colors and in the end, the brothers had no choice but to kill her to survive when she was about to kill Henri and turn in Remy to the MSF to which she was loyal to. She had been a mole implanted to garner information to the MSF, luckily, she had failed and all the evidence she had found against the Thieves had been much too vague to be of any use. This ordeal had however scarred him deeply, as had Belladonna.

It seemed that all the women who he had thought loved him would turn on him. Belladonna professed her love to him but in truth she was just using him to move further up in the Assassin's Guild by trying to kill him in a gathering of the Thieves and Assassins when he was about 17, a year after Genevieve. He had thought Belle, the one, but she had shown herself a cold bitch. She had helped him get over Genevieve and he had once loved her and believed her a genuine woman. After the ties were severed with the Assassins and Thieves, he hadn't seen her. The last he heard, she was supposedly romantically involved with her own brother, Julien.

The day in which his powers went out of control at the gathering of Thieves and Assassins had been a terrible day. Henri was about to be killed with one of Julien's blades and it was like he snapped. Julien's blade was charged instantly, and when he released it, it exploded, giving him a near fatal injury. It didn't end there with Julien, he began to charge many other objects as well, automatically with no touch, they exploded with a force he had never known before. Many Assassins would be killed and many more killed in the successive blasts. He supposed he was one of the reasons that the Assassins left them alone after they cut ties. The screams that day still haunted his memory.

It was just one heart break after another. He was a man who'd given up on love. The three years, he had begun to show his status as a ladies' man. Sure, he was always good with the ladies, but it was nothing more than casual flirting. He was just a natural charmer. But after two very bad breakups, he began to go through with the classic ladies' man behavior, sleeping with many women, leaving behind a string of broken hearts and one night stands. He hadn't had a serious relationship after his two disastrous ones with Belle and Genevieve.

It was after his two catastrophic relationships that he began a world tour relocating the rich of the world and giving the dividends to the Resistance, like a modern day Robin Hood, but he didn't feel satisfied, so he would eventually join and train to be an agent. He surpassed training quickly, due to his acquired skills as a thief. Soon, he was an amazing agent and working some of the toughest, most secretive cases. Not many knew of him. It was in this time that he would end up working a few cases with his old rescuer, Logan. Since he was so secretive, Logan couldn't talk about him, but that didn't stop them from getting that beer Logan had promised him years ago and many more. They became strange friends.

He would've much rather been cruising on his Harley, but he needed to keep up the appearance of a wealthy billionaire and head designer of a company that was owned by the Three. It was his job to pose as a head designer to recruit a up coming designer with links to several of the highest ranking members in the MSF as many of them were in her family. Remy drove down a few more streets; taking a few turns and then parked his car at a parking complex two blocks away from the locale he was to meet his target over coffee.

Remy was wearing a black T-shirt with a sketchy red dragon printed on the front. Over top of that he wore a white shirt leaving it open with a black blazer over that which had dark slate grey pinstripes on it. He paired it with a pair of nice jeans that were slightly worn and loose with a black leather belt. On his feet was a pair of leather shoes that were black. A silver chain was on his neck. He wore a long black duster overtop with leather gloves, a dark fleece scarf and black ear muffs that went behind his neck to ward off the cold. A dark wig was on his head, making his coppery auburn hair black. Contacts on his eyes made them appear blue, instead of red on black.

Getting out from the expensive car and locking the doors, he took an elevator down to the ground level of the complex and began to walk the two blocks to the coffee shop he was to meet the target. All he had was a picture to go with, but he had memorized every detail and knew that he would be able to spot her when he saw her. He took to the bustling streets of New York, blending in with the locals. He noticed the street vendors selling beautiful trinkets, the street musicians and their music and the painters creating humorous portraits of their customers, but he didn't admire them for long. They were just part of the New York atmosphere. He had his mind set of a coffee shop dubbed, 'The Goddess Called Coffee.'

He reached shop after a brisk ten minute walk, taking in the twisted metal sign, large windows and dark sandstone building. He could see the aged white marble in the building with French design on it. It was wrapped with the marble and on the top of the building were aged marble gargoyles. The coffee shop however, was a touch of the new and modern in the old building. The frames of the window were painted dark obsidian black, as was the door. The large window had a sort of raised table behind it where customers sat on barstools sipping coffee. He pushed the door open to a ring of a small bell, alerting of a new customer and looked around for the target.

He spotted her at the back of the coffee shop behind a large granite table and two comfortable looking velvet easy chairs, setting up her portfolio and other items on the table. He noticed she had kept her toque on for the look and wore a pale blue sweater.

He approached her relaxed, taking in the atmosphere of the room. When he neared her, something about her seemed to take him aback for a second. She was so familiar. It was just something about her, but he couldn't place it. He pushed it to the recesses of his mind. He'd worry about it later. Right now he had to focus on the mission and his alias.

* * *

Getting closer to the woman with red hair, the man greeted, "Hello, I'm Robert Lord, from Inspired Designs." The man gave her a smile and a hand to which she shook. Remy looked at her and determined she was quite beautiful. The shade red hair didn't seem to suit her too well. He assumed that she had probably lightened it at one point. 

"I'm Anna Raven," she said, giving him a smile. Marie had to admit that the man before her was a looker, even though something about his eyes didn't quite fit, she ascertained that they were probably contacts, but brushed it off.

"I've heard a lot about you," said Remy with a normal American accent, taking off his jacket and placing it on the chair adjacent to Marie.

"I've heard a lot about you, too," said Marie, in a typical New York accent.

"Who hasn't?" said Remy, "Listen, I'll get us coffee, what would you like?"

"Oh no, I couldn't," said Marie, politely.

"No, I insist," said Remy.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have a large black," she said.

"Of all the coffee in here, you choose black?" he asked.

"You got a problem with black coffee?" she asked back.

"No, I like mine black too," replied Remy, "Though I've never known anyone else to either."

"I know what you mean," said Marie with a smile as Remy went to get the coffee.

Marie had to say that if the circumstances were different, she probably would've liked this guy. He seemed genuine, but she knew that it wasn't the case. Little did she know that Remy was thinking the same thing as he ordered the coffee.

When Remy came back and handed her the coffee she ordered, they sat down and got down to business.

"You're younger than I thought you'd be," said Remy honestly, testing her, like any employer would.

"Well, you're younger than what I thought you to be, too," said Marie, throwing back his words.

"I like your spirit," he said genuinely, "So why do you want to work for Inspired?"

"I've just always admired the work there. It would be a dream come true to work for you. I love the way you give creativity to your teams to show off actual artistic talent, not just some clichéd gaudy photoshop thing. The creativity shown in your company is unlike any other and the work is just so much ahead of the rest. Your designs and advertisements are in a league of its own and I want to be a part of that," said Marie.

"Well, let's see your portfolio," said Remy. Marie had prepared a portfolio of her own works of art. And the two would spend the rest of the afternoon talking about her art, the way the company ran and such. Marie had to admit it was nice to be able to talk to someone who actually understood art like she did, even though she knew her mission. She could tell that the man in front of her was just as passionate about art. He showed her many of the company's designs that had been published and some of his own works and they were brilliant. He seemed to be a person who was smart, funny, intellectual, creative and kind.

Remy had to say that meeting with the girl complicated the mission somewhat. She was lively, intelligent, artistic and caring. He could see parts of her soul in her work. It was amazing. For once he had someone to talk to about something he was really passionate about asides from the usual. They seemed to have a lot in common. He would talk and show her his works of art and she would share as well. It would be hard to do the mission because she felt like a genuine person he would really like to know. It was too bad that the mission and what he did didn't allow that. They were on different sides.

* * *

Little did they know that a connection had formed between them inexplicably that would most definitely complicate things in the mission, they were supposed to follow. The two of them didn't know it was a test to find out their strengths and see if they would be able to work together. Their superiors didn't know at the time that they had formed the perfect partners at the time, but they would soon realize the brilliance in the times to come. Remy and Marie however would soon learn of their ploy and turn the tables on their superiors though.

* * *

Serendipity, eh, I just had to set them up like this…will they figure out what's going on and how they seem to recognize each other? The mystery continues. The story finally takes that spy like edge from the beginning. Oh, and you won't have people dying every two seconds, plus their past is over, so I can focus on the actual plot. YAY! 

Strangely, the fluffy bits were harder to write than the death and destruction bits. That's why it took so long, because I didn't really have an inkling of how I would show them getting together. So I hope it's done well. Some of the stuff I'm thinking is crap, but I really tried my best. I hope you like. I think you're gonna kill me for that Romy cliffie. I just really don't want to do it all in this chapter, because well, it got long again, and this way, the next chapter is a full Romy infused chapter. Then of course, you'll get to see the beginnings of how the team formed.

* * *

**UP NEXT: CHAPTER TWO: FORMING FEROCITY**

…very self explanatory. The story will take on some of the plot I was planning to do at the beginning. It will have more of a spy feel and less of a look at all the people dying feel. I'm not sure how many more death scenes there will be, butthey probably won't be anywhere as big as in the first chapter in terms of people dying.

_**PLEASE REVIEW! **_

simba317


	5. Part I: Forming Ferocity

**SUPER SPECIAL NOTE: As a way of saying that 'I'm BACK!' I'm posting a very special excerpt of this chapter, since I know that you guys have probably forgotten about it and I want to entice you back. So the in the spirit of teasing, you'll have to wait until I actually finish the chapter for you all to see the entire thing! This is just to whet your appetites and put you back into the groove of the fic as well as guilt on my part…but anyways…**

**NOTE:** As of October, 27th, 2005, I have restructured this piece of fiction to make more sense. Part I will deal with the past and Part II will deal with everything that is currently happening in their timeline at the time of the Prologue.

**Disclaimer:** I'm an overworked high school student. Of course I don't own X-Men Evolution or any of the characters. This is just me taking joy in messing with them a bit…

**Summary:** I'll be nice, since it's been awhile…three months…looks around shiftly…SORRY!

Missing Pieces: Okay, so Remy and Rogue are posing as rich folk at a party. They go into a garden and talk where we learn that Logan is being held captive and has been brainwashed so much that he doesn't know who they are anymore! So Rogue's freaked out because Logan's her dad and Remy comforts her; THEY CAN TOUCH! But they aren't together…brother-sister ness going on…Rogue is undercover to get some info on the baddies to get Logan home. We learn of the horrible human-mutant relations.

How the World Falls Apart: Okay, so now we're in part I, Chapter One. We learn that Xavier and Magneto have formed Underground Resistance X to rise against the human oppressors and help their kind and humans too that struggle against the anti-mutant beliefs and practices. Here we start dealing with the pasts of all the characters and why they do what they do. Starting with Kurt, basically, he lives with his mom and dad, Raven Darkholme and Alfred Wagner in Germany where his dad is an awesome scientist working in a facility, owned by 'the THREE' undercover with Hank to gather intel on them. They are discovered. Hank goes banging on their door one night with the news, so they pack up their livelihoods and flee through the forests to get to the German base…on the way, Alfred is killed and Hank and Raven are shot pretty badly, presumed dead. Kurt runs, spurred by Raven's last words, but is caught by the MSF, the evil strike force military thing that gathers in the entire number of mutants world wide for their unsavory deeds like experimentation, work, torture and imprisonment. Fast forward to Marie. She's living all happy and safe in the deep south of Mississippi with mom and dad. Dad is a mutant. Dad is beaten to death by a lynch mob that lights their house on fire. Mom and Marie are in the master bed room, where her mom tells her to go to the attic to climb out of the house, while she distracts the mob for her to leave. Marie runs while mom is being beaten. She is tracked by the MSF that capture her. They bring her to the same cell where Kurt is staying at one of their facilities. They bond all brother sister like, sort of like twins. Logan later joins them. He becomes their father figure after a tale of his adventures. He kicks evil MSF guard ass when he tries to hurt his 'pups'. He promises that he'll get Marie and Kurt out because they don't deserve it. Logan is then made to transfer to a different facility, going from Siberia to the Mojave Desert in Nevada.

Dreams of Escapism: There is a nice discussion where Ororo, Hank, Raven, Xavier and Magneto talk about finding Logan, who's disappeared for a few years with a memory wipe, drifting. You learn Ororo's and Hank's pasts involving Ororo saved from a Cairo mob by Xavier and Hank being saved by Xavier, Magneto and Ororo helping to control his 'beast' when his powers got whacked in University. You also learn Raven's in which she started to manifest abilities and was found out by the MSF who storm her house and kill all her family right in front of her eyes. They tell her that they love her. As they're about to execute her, she morphs and flies away to her friend, Alfred…they fall in love…blah, blah, blah. You learn the story of how Logan was recruited into the Resistance after running rampant in a forest outside base. They come up with a plan to liberate him. Logan is moved to the Mojave where he is put in the same cell with the one and only Remy LeBeau! They bond, Logan promises to get him out. When they are harassed by a guard, they kick his ass and pull a jail break to the Vegas. They can't take anyone else for fear of detection. They get to the bus station and about to board a bus heading for the Big Easy when the MSF finds them and do their thing, so Logan sacrifices himself to allow Remy to escape. In N'Awlins, Remy thieves around and gets caught by the MSF, sorta, but thanks to some lying by Jean-Luc, he's safe and taken in by the man. Alright, then we have the big ass rescue mission in Nevada where Wolvie is rescued with a little moment for Wolvie and Misty and the base is destroyed, mutants freed and intel gathered. Logan's memory is restored and he remembers that KURT IS RAVEN'S KID. Why, Raven, he's alive and they go liberating the kids. You learn what Logan's been up to in his four year gap. Raven and Kurt reunite when Logan comes through with his promise by rescuing him and Marie. Marie meets Raven. Cute little end scene with Logan and Raven where they adopt Marie and give her the name 'Marie Aimee Darkholme Howlett.'

Run For Your Life: Okay, first off Essex in the office gives an order to slaughter all mutants after the Resistance takes many of their facilities. You learn that the Nefarious Three are Essex, Stryker and Trask. Flash to the future: Some sweet vignettes showing how Kurt and Marie are growing up, Raven and Logan are married with kids of their own and as is Ororo and Hank. You find out how Ororo, Hank, Kurt and Marie got Logan and Raven together. Then you learn about Kitty, she's a normal girl in Chicago who walks home one day with her friend, Melody. They are caught in the crossfire of some mutant hunting MSF dudes. They kill the mutant boy and shoot Melody too, by mistake. They both die. Kitty freaks, obviously and goes to see if she's okay, but freezes, realizing that she's about to be shot! Except that she phases through the bullets. She runs once she realizes that the MSF are after her and eventually loses them and runs home. She cries at her parents to not hate her, they don't because they lover her, she's their daughter, so they pack up their lives in their car and drive to 'the Bishop' who they've heard can help them. They enter a poor, ghost town like part of Chicago with rave music coming out from a building where they are led to Sage who takes them to Bishop and tells them, they're in URX and they're safe and they can do whatever they want. They join the Resistance to help. Piotr and his family are fleeing in Russia from the MSF after them in the cold snow. Blasphemy is alive in the country side. Mr. and Mrs. Rasputin sacrifice themselves at the hands of the MSF, who shoot them, so that their children can make a break for it, but the MSF start to catch up. They're about to die, but Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel and Psylocke save them and take them to the Resistance where they join. John is in the outback of Australia three days after escaping from home when the MSF raided their house. He is moved to hide in the basement by his family, whilst his family is caught and executed by the MSF. He makes a break for it using his powers and flees to the outback, ready to die, but the X-Men save him. He's depressed and withdrawn when he wakes up, caught in a rut, but Piotr talks to him and changes that. They become friends. Wanda and Pietro run from home after their guardians that Erik asked to take care of them are found and shot. They run into the woods with a barrage of bullets and MSF soldiers after them. About to be shot, Pietro stands in front of Wanda, taking the bullets meant for her, mortal wounds. They're captured by the MSF. It's now harder to liberate mutants, so the Resistance, nearly fail. They only win because during the run back to the jet, Erik sacrifices himself Jean Grey X2 style. They rush Pietro to the ER in the base, but it's too late. His wounds are too great. He asks Hank to stop operating, he's a lost cause. He has touching last moments with his sister and dies. You learn about the pasts of Marie's world and Remy's, the most important detail being that Remy and Wolvie were reunited. Remy and Marie are meeting each other in a strange set up mission in a coffee house. They talk and bond somewhat, realizing how similar they are as well as noticing something off about each other. They seem to recognize each other from somewhere…

And that, my friends, is a detailed two page summary of the events that have transpired thus far.

**Author's Notes:** I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LATENESS IN UPDATING! Does anyone still know that it's out there? I know it's been two…um…three months. I really do. It's just that summer ended and school started, I roved back into the groove of school and got bogged by work. Plus, I was determined to put a good dent into 'AME' and the plan I had for one chapter has split into about five…so I got a tad bit distracted by that. Plus, it was just really long and detailed, so it took awhile to write on top of that…so I'm REALLY sorry to have been neglecting 'URX'. I just have to say that if you miss this fic, I miss it too. This is probably my most original plot and there's still plenty to come and tell. I know I've been on a three month hiatus, but I still have a pretty good handle on it. I reread my chapters and still have a huge notebook full of the notes and plans I wrote out for the future. I know, I know, I was supposed to be writing up a storm on my lap top. Well, I did, but it was VACATION! We went to the coast, what was I supposed to do, hole myself up in my room and type my butt off? C'mon. I love the ocean!

Okay, SO THIS IS THE ROMY CHAPTER! It's my big Romy chapter, that I've been absolutely dying to write for SO long. You get to see the team forming up and that's always cool. How Rogue and Remy know each other will be explained later as well as why they're 'brother-sister'…I know you all HATE that, but I have on the summary ROMY for a reason, because it's a ROMY. You just have to wait. Also, on advice from Coldqueen, I'm restructuring this entire fic to make the first chapter a prologue and then everything after that up to the part where we meet up with the timeline of the prologue, part one, and then the stuff after the prologue, chronologically will be part two, so I renamed the chapters. I renamed them the first day I started writing this chapter, if you must know. I gotta give you guys something to hold on to show that this fic is alive and well. All the ideas I had are flowing back to me in waves and the Muse must be acknowledged.

To the reviews, I've wanted to do these responses since August…

**Shout Outs:**

**Bored247**: I really like hearing what you do while reading my fics, it's quite amusing. Dog food? LOL! I'm glad you read my fic when you were supposed to get dog food. I don't mind the blame at all. It's sort of like a compliment. And I'm SO SORRY that this was not updated as quickly as I would've liked. I hope you'll end up as addicted to this fic as you are 'AME'! Thanks for supporting me since practically the beginning of my writing.

**Realfarraige:** I haven't heard from you in awhile, granted, I haven't updated this in awhile, but still…I've missed you! Essex, Trask and Stryker really are the epitome of mutant bigotry in this universe and you'll see more of them later. And yeah, Essex is human and I put him on the opposite end of the spectrum in this. And you're very right about Essex, he'd rather kill them all for a simple loss, because he gets the last laugh. He most certainly is evil mutant or not. It doesn't really matter here. He's a villain first and foremost. I'm glad you like the family unit of Logan and Raven, I really tried hard with that as well as Ororo and Hank to make it feasible. I'm glad you liked the ploy to set up Logan and Raven. Marie's eyes really are a weapon of mass destruction…LMAO! And yes, I was referring to Scarlet O'Hara. I'm glad you liked those lines. They really just came to me, like most dialogue in my stories. The idea for Bishop and Sage's little place just came up to me one summer evening and stayed with me. I HAD to do it…it really just started with 'Go to the Bishop.' Plus, conning the MSF is pretty cool too. I'm glad you liked the way I did Kitty's past. And as hard as all the death was to see…it was actually the easiest part to write for some reason and I'm glad you liked how their pasts were told. Yup, fate really is at work with them and you'll see how that works out later. I'm glad I was able to pull you emotionally into the chapter, because I was emotional writing it. Thanks for reviewing!

**GothikStrawberry:** I'm glad you enjoyed the Logan/Raven bits. I'm glad that I've convinced you of Storm and Beast as a couple. I really did try hard to make them seem believable. And yeah, they really do have compatible personalities, but they're never really put together. I'm glad you liked Sage and Bishop and yeah, they are cool. I couldn't resist doing that about them, conning the MSF. Nobody can wait to see what happens with Rogue and Remy. So just wait, it comes right now!

**Coldqueen:** Thank you SO much for your advice for restructuring the story. It really helped. Thanks for the review.

**ISH:** LOL! I guess I do sort of take the cake for writing LONG things…reviews and chapters…but I try not to go so overboard anymore…lol…Yeah, there was A LOT of death and wow! I really did get you teary eyed when Pietro was dying? That's pretty cool. I'm glad that Marie and Kurt's little backhanding of Raven and Logan's relationship was amusing for you. I really was going for that. They'll realize pretty soon they're on the same side…as for what happens and how it happens, just wait. If you're lucky, I'll be able to place in the part where they find each other out in this chapter.

**Cat2fat900:** And yes, isn't it creepy that in 'X-Men: The End' Remy is a clone of both Sinister and Scott? GAH! But hopefully, it's only in that universe and not 616, although they've done plenty to screw up Romy there too. I hated the August for Romy. They broke up in 616, Rogue dies in 'X-Men: The End' and Remy dies in the Ultimate universe. God, Marvel sucks! I say Hi back to the squirrels! "HI, CF'S SQUIRRELS!" Oh yeah, because writing this response reminded me to remind you that you SHOULD BE UPDATING STOCKHOLM SYNDRONE! Wouldn't we all like to throw bricks at the likes of them! LOL! If you look really hard for one of my earlier reviews of Agent-G's Hellfire and Brimestone, you'll find a really nice intro I wrote totally telling him exactly what I'd do to Sinister…in fact, here it is: 'It's good to see the villain again, (Sinister) even though you know I'd probably start a riotous mob against him...but that's besides the point...we'd pillage and plunder his lab and touch everything we're not supposed to not to mention burn and break stuff with pitchforks, oh, and tie him to a post and then burn him at the stake, a cold fire though, because victims of hot fires didn't die of burning, they died of suffocation, which is acutally sorta humane for them...I hope this is as amusing for you as it is for me, that or you'll go...simba's got a few screws loose...the mental pics rock though...hehehehe. It's a product of the rain...It's been raining where I live for the past week and a half...and I live near the prairies where it's supposed to be bone dry...it's tres depressing.' I hope it amuses you. I'm really glad that you like Logan and Raven put together and actually like it. I'm you enjoyed how they got together. A slash pairing name for Logan and Mystique eh? Hmm…How 'bout Myverine or Lystique or Loven or Ravgan, I really like Loven. Many people seem to be amused by the line 'Everyone is too old for you, Logan.' I loved it too when I wrote it all that time ago. Yes, Kitty feels very much over her head. I guess Bishop just amuses you. Yes, there's LOTS of people dying, but that's just the reality of the situation and the world they live in and it's not pretty. I like that you're disturbed by it, though. That's what I'm going for. Yes, there will be Kiotr. I usually ship Kiotr, although I do like Kurrty, Wandurt and Kurmanda. This will be a Kurmanda. I'm glad you liked the John part so much and how Piotr bought him out of his rut. I love that scene. It's one of my most favourite scenes ever written. LOL! I love that I got a 'HOLY FLAMING SQUIRRELS!' Yes, there's a ton of character death, but that's just the way the world works here, and I did it to show what motivates them, what makes them fight for the cause and the people they've lost because of it. Both Remy and Rogue are working for the Resistance, but they don't know that right now. They were somehow tricked into this mission. You'll see why later. And they'll figure out why they seem familiar to each other later. That bit was so random; it just got put in when I had a moment of epiphany. It makes a good story and further complicates their relationship…lol…I think I will get sicced by the squirrels…I didn't update soon enough…sigh.

**KSimonT-X:** Out of all the reviewers, I've been most dying to respond to you and thank you SO incredibly much for reviewing all of my chapters. They really meant a lot and brought me up when I least expected them. Your compliments were really sweet and nice to hear. The thing about the universes you mentioned from Marvel, like 'Days of Future Past', 'Age of Apocalypse' and the 'Ultimate' universe is that I actually don't read comics, I just know what briefly happened in them…I think I was mostly drawn to this story line by the overall thematic messages of X2 and slickboy444's 'Extermination'. However, it was really just started as a response to ForbiddenScar's 'The Midnight Air' when she was doing a 'reviewer participation' thing where you gave her ideas for each chapter of the fic, which was a different universe. It was sprung by an idea for Remy and Rogue as spies. The mutant-human relations thing was really spur of the moment when I was writing and the inspiration just crashed into me and I realized that this made is so much deeper and was truly something I felt was worthwhile. I'm glad you like how I have some humans that actually exist fine with mutants and the way Xavier and Magneto worked together, though sort lived…Thanks for seeing the complexities I'm planning to put into the fic as well as liking the people of this universe. I'm glad you liked that I added people outside the Evo universe and I'm surprised that you haven't seen Bishop in the Evo verse. I've seen him in 'From the Shadows' by Black Queen. It's one of those essential Romys, in my opinion, like the Seven Sunningdale stories and any ishandahalf story. I've also seen Bishop in 'Shall We Dance?' by Shira's Song, off the top of my head and yours doesn't count…lol. I'm glad you like my concept of the human-mutant struggle and the way the sides are structured. I'm glad you like the Logan/Raven twist of this fic and how they adopt Rogue and that she's actually a good mother. And yup, there is a heavy dose of romance here in this fic. I'm glad that you enjoyed the character histories I invented. It was a lot of fun to have my way and run with it, without the confines of continuity for a non AU. I find AU's are best when they go SO completely left field from the regular universe. I'm glad you like the kids…I really didn't realize for the longest time that I had created a few OCs…I don't think of them that way. They probably won't be playing too big of a role in this universe, but will make a few appearances to show character relationships. I'm glad that you like the world I created. I really did run with this and took it as far away from Evo as I could, I guess. It all really unfolded for me at the moment I mentioned the world they lived in, in the prologue. Strange that this fic reminds you of the Matrix, because I've only ever seen the first movie. Originally, the Prydes went into the building to be confronted by some unsavoury youths, one of them Sage. They were supposed to be very freaked out by them, but I changed it to the rave because it shows them really being submerged into this new world that is run full on deception out of necessity. As for Sinister, he's going to be like the typical villain in personality and job, but his goals are different. And hell yeah, they're a troublesome trio! As for killing Pietro and Erik, well, it just seemed right…I mean, you just get all this great material for Wanda to explore and they weren't going to be main characters that I focused on either, so it just went in that direction. I mean, she lost her dad AND her brother in one night, she's got issues and like the rest a reason for fighting, you really understand her motivation. But I'm glad you're cool with death. I have honestly never done SO much character death, I've never written death scenes until this story. But, I do think I'm going to keep these guys alive…for the time being. I don't see a reason to kill off any of them, so these guys are alive. Just an impression of major Romy eh? LOL! Well, be forewarned that I'm a major Romy fan. You'll see just how it turns out soon though. Thanks SO much for the reviews!

ONWARD! We go!

After a long hiatus, I welcome you to the next segment of 'URX'! Enjoy.

&

**PART ONE: CHAPTER FOUR: FORMING FEROCITY**

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Professor Charles Xavier was wheeling himself down the long metallic corridors of the Resistance headquarters, the professional looking area where the Resistance was run, to where the meeting room was to hold a meeting with long time members, Hank, Ororo, Logan and Raven. They were about to talk about a new proposal that the four of them had come up with recently that was all under wraps and very secretive. He sighed, wondering if it would actually work of if it'd be another failure. He didn't think that they could suffer anymore casualties, not now, when everything looked to be so bleak in their world.

They had practically stopped their rescue operations. It was just too much of a risk with the new technology that the MSF now had in their possession, sure they could counteract that with theirs…but their inventions were still faulty and could only last short periods of time, not quite enough for a jailbreak. They were barely making a dent in the network of mutant imprisonment and capture that the MSF ran. By all accounts, they were winning quite heavily. The only thing that kept them fighting was the fact that they were still preserving their locations and even that was becoming quite the undertaking. But it was the only thing they could do right now, hide. They hide while more of their own were tormented in the prisons.

Not a day went by that he didn't curse his legs. If only he could be out in the field, but he was too much of a liability with his disability. He could befuddle all of his opponents' minds and help earn them a victory. If only Erik were still alive. If only…if only his wife and child were still alive…only Erik understood what that was like.

It had been the worst night of his life. He had been driving his family home from a hockey game. David was eighteen and about to graduate from high school in a few months with dreams of becoming a geneticist. David's team had won the game. They'd have a chance at the playoffs that year. He had been so excited, so full of promise and potential. Gaby and he had watched the game, cheered him on like any parent would, yelling and screaming in celebration when he scored a goal. They were so proud of him. They were all so happy and loved each other, truly. It was a perfect little family. At least on the outside it was.

The truth was, he was a powerful telepathic mutant and David had developed some of those abilities and in the increasingly negative view towards mutants, the family had kept this a secret. It was a secret that was to be revealed somehow but they never knew how exactly. They had both been so careful, not raising any hint of suspicion, but still they were found out.

In those days, when the world was a little sweeter, the MSF was in the beginnings of structuring and hadn't been a full fledged force yet, so the true fighters of genetic supremacy were the Friends of Humanity, very much like the KKK or the Ku Klux Klan and went about publicly killing mutants, instead of negroes, in a much more dramatic and less ceremonial way.

They had been driving along the road to their home in Westchester, New York, talking amicably of David's game, laughing often. All of a sudden, a strange car burst into view from the rear view mirror. A large truck, hauling many men and teenage boys in the trunk, all drunk, laughing and yelling, streaked down the road, all black and menacing, with a red spray painted 'Friends of Humanity' symbol on the hood. Torches aflame lit the truck like it had driven straight out of hell. It was easily going 120 km on the municipal road.

Charles tried to let the strange group pass, but they would not, and began to tailgate his car. Gaby and David were frantic and Charles began to panic, so he did what he had to. He entered the mind of the driver, except, for some odd reason, he couldn't, neither could David. So Charles had to outmanoeuvre them. The one problem was simple. They were in a large truck, he and his family, in a small sedan. They were outmatched.

With a sudden burst of speed at an intersection, the truck rammed into their sedan and ran it into the traffic light posts. Glass shattered, metal bent and bodies broke in the horrific crash. The impact of the car was taken directly on the right side, where Gabby and David sat; they had no chance and died instantly. Charles felt them die. He felt their bodies lay vacant and their minds die forever. He felt their fear, terror and pain as they died. It was what he remembered before unconsciousness stole him too.

He was told when he woke up in the hospital, that his wife and son were dead, dying instantly in the crash. They had barely managed to pull him out by the time the fireman reached the scene. The FOH had lit his care aflame, making it almost impossible for them to get him out. Knowing he was the only one alive, they had only had enough time to cut him out. His wife and son's bodies had been incinerated. He didn't even have bodies to bury. He had never been so lost and alone in his life. But the aftermath was long lasting on a physical way as well, he would never have the use of his legs again, and they would always remind him of this day, this nightmare that he lived in.

He had truly questioned who Charles Xavier was then, and if it wasn't for his life long friend, Erik Lehnsherr, he was sure he would've committed suicide out of sadness and depression after reaching a breaking point on the seventh anniversary of their death. Erik understood for he had lost his own wife and daughter, Anya in a lynch mob in Poland. They had gone out shopping that day and the mobs found them, shooting them point blank with their rifles, placing neat holes into their foreheads. Erik Lehnsherr would love again though Magda from which Wanda and Pietro would later be born. She had taken him from his rut and made him happy again, only to die in childbirth, but this time, he didn't let it kill him. He let it fuel him and drive him to be a better father, to honour Anya's memory.

Through constant companionship and talks from Erick Lehnsherr, Charles was able to pull through and take it upon them to fight this growing epidemic sweeping the world, knowing it was only a matter of time before mutants were outlawed. They formed Underground Resistance X.

Pressing a code on the side of the door to the meeting room, Charles entered the room, hoping that their idea would work, but not praying for any miracles. They were few and far between and only seemed to dash their hopes even more when they fell, and fell hard.

"You come to me with a proposition today?" asked Xavier as he crossed the threshold, addressing his friends, placing his hands on the large table that sat there. Logan, Hank, Ororo and Raven stood to the wall, presentation fully ready to go.

"Yes," said Ororo, "we do. Raven?"

"For too long we've been failing at our goals. We are no longer able to make an impact on the network of MSF operatives herding in mutants for slaughter," started Raven Darkholme, "and it is slaughter. This is what they are subjugated to through torment, imprisonment, captivity, experimentation and back breaking labour. Their souls are dying. These people, our people are dying in every way shape and form. Our old ways aren't working as well anymore. Our secrecy which was one our greatest strength is now our greatest weakness. So in the spirit of the evolution that has brought us to this earth to eek an existence, it is this we propose. Hank?"

"Yes, well Charles, we propose to create and operate a new faction of the Resistance, even more secretive and stealthy than we are as an organization right now. We envision a group to be the crème of this rebellion," started Hank, "They will be, well, in layman's terms, spies. We plan to create a team of elite spies, trained to infiltrate any facility related to the Three, steal the latest information, take down any enemy with their mutant power, fighting or weaponry skills, extract prisoners discretely, and act as a shadow agency to the CIA, FBI, NSF and MSF or any other intelligence agency in the world."

"This sounds all well and good, but how do you propose we do this? Currently, we have no one group that does all this. Is it even feasible to do all that you have mentioned and keep a low profile, a profile even stealthier than the one we have now?" asked Xavier sceptically.

"That's where you're wrong, Charles," said Ororo with a smile, "We knew you'd be sceptical, so we did a little test."

"Observe the monitor to your left," she gestured with her hand as it hummed to working mode, "These bugs here were planted into that coffee shop you see. There at those round tables at the back are two of our candidates, should you approve our proposal. The woman being Marie Darkholme Howlett, the man being Remy LeBeau. For the past three days, they have engaged in conversation, thinking each other as significant members of the MSF that could provide useful information to our cause. They are demonstrated skills of espionage that we hope to establish in a subtle fashion. They have already garnered significant information from our targets that you will see to your computer in birth certificates, driver's licenses, historical records of their 'families' that may be of interest, company finance records, and such."

"Impressive," commented Xavier. It was truly amazing work.

"Yeah," started Logan, "We plan to make this team everything that the X-Men, Intel Omega, Firefox and DarkStealth are combined. We will no longer wait and react, we will be the ones acting and opposing first. We're creating a team that will best do that. Please observe your files to your right. File one: Remy Etienne LeBeau aka Le Diable Blanc. Level Three Empath with Level Nine abilities of kinetic manipulation causing destructive explosions. He is a trained master thief of the New Orleans Thieves Guild, one of the best, who moonlights constantly for the Resistance. LeBeau was once a Jailbreaker, single handed, he holds the record for that position. File Two: Kurt Alfred Wagner, currently no codename. Level Nine Teleporter with demon like appearance and naturally enhanced agility and speed. Experienced in infiltration and defensive manoeuvring. Expert in sword handling and weaponry. He has gotten them out of a lot of jams. Currently a member of the X-Men. File Three: Katherine Rebecca Pryde, currently no codename. Level Nine powers of Intangibility. Trained hacker one of the best intel gatherers in Intel Omega. Powers are nice for avoiding injury. File Four: Marie Aimee Darkholme Howlett, currently no codename. Level Nine powers of absorption, allowing her to take the memories and powers of mutants and knock them out. Currently is a member of the X-Men. Expert in munitions and firearms. Excellent fighter with ideal powers for intel. File Five: Piotr Nicholaivitch Rasputin, aka Colossus. (Don't remember how to spell middle name, live with it.) Level Nine ability to turn into impenetrable organic steel with invulnerability and Level Nine super strength. Current member of DarkStealth. Expert in linguistics. The man is practically a tank, perfect for those missions gone wrong, powerhouse muscle. File Six: St. John Michael David Patrick Allerdyce, aka Pyro. (I couldn't resist giving him some other saintly names…lol.) Level Nine abilities of fire manipulation. Current member of Firefox. The resident explosives expert. Trained to make fires look like accidents, expert arsonist and evidence destroyer. File Seven: Wanda Anya Lehnsherr Maximoff, currently no codename. Level Nine hexing abilities. Currently unaffiliated. She puts the 'terror' in interrogation. Really knows how to break a man. Hexing is excellent for throwing off the enemy with its unpredictability. And that along with us is what we plan to create Ferocity."

"It's good, with training and proper education, this could work," admitted Xavier, "but I already see personality conflicts here."

"I disagree," said Ororo immediately.

"Yes, we think they'll be good for each other," said Raven.

"Do they know that they've already met?" asked Xavier, referring to Marie and Remy.

"No, and that's the good part," explained Logan.

"Why?" asked Xavier, not seeing how this was good. It seemed more of an ultimate prank on the two people.

"We can show you how good they are as individuals and the kind of team we're forming," revealed Hank.

"What kind of team exactly?" wondered Xavier at what he was getting himself into.

The four at the front of the meeting room just shared a look and smiled at each other.

* * *

Remy and Rogue are next, and since this is really really rough, it may be editted to be better in the final draft coming soon! Plus, at the end, you get to see how the seven members other than Hank, Ororo, Logan and Raven, who'll be the 'authrity figures' of the team will run the show.

Be sure to tell me what you think? Have I teased your curiosity or annoyed you to no end.

**DROP ME A LINE! **

simba317


	6. Part I: Meeting Destiny at Gun Point

**Disclaimer:** Hmm…last time I checked I'm still just a high school student and not CEO of Marvel…ie. Avi Arad, therefore, I do not own the X-Men in any way shape or form…however, that doesn't mean I can't mess with them…insert evil laugh…

**Author's Notes: **Well, I decided to leave Chapter Five as it was because I came up with a totally kick ass chapter title. Plus, it's undisrupted ROMY! I've always wanted to do something where they're just so entirely volatile to each other, but you can still feel so much chemistry and attraction. So prep yourselves for a fight. Rubs hands together…Yup, things get nasty between each other…plus there's a nice delicious twist. For those who need a quick summary for what has happened, check out Part I, Chapter Four's Author's Notes. As you probably know…this fic was sprung from the progeny of ForbiddenScar's 'The Midnight Air'. It was a audience participation ficlet that asked reviewers to send in their ideas for stories that she would write for us…well, the premise of Rogue and Remy being spies was actually chosen by her this summer to be written. It was really cool. So this chapter takes a lot of my original ideas for her story and blends it with a few that she added to it.

**Shout Outs:**

I copied and pasted all of the reviews I wrote out to you guys the first day I really started writing this chapter…but yeah, the responses were all done in like October some time…but Yeah, I'm late and I know. I usually write out the responses before I write a chapter, I feel inspired, that way. I got distracted from writing this by real life…yup, real life…and because I wrote 'Taking A Chance' to make me and you all feel happy due to the horribleness of Romy sometimes…I had a lot of fun writing the responses to you guys in the new way this time…but I think there's a lot of flaws…I hate having to press reply and send tons of times and like…how can you get rid of responses completely when some people review anonymously and don't give you email addresses…sigh…oh well. I still thank my faithful reviewers! I'm really gonna miss not writing them in the format I have for so long…sigh.

Thanks to: **bored247**, **Cat2fat900**, **ishandahalf**, **Gothik Strawberry** and **Realfarraige**.

I suppose the way I was emailing my responses to you guys was a way to show you all that I'm working on this chapter and that I hadn't forgotten about it. I'll admit it, this ficcie has been neglected. Poor baby.

Welcome to the next installment of 'URX', my friends. Please fasten your seat belt and prepare for some turbulence!

&

**PART I CHAPTER FIVE: MEETING DESTINY AT GUNPOINT**

…No one dies in this chapter…

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**

So she's sitting there, in that coffee house, and across from her, intimately across, is the most gorgeous man she's ever laid eyes on. It was that uberly muscular, yet lean physique of his that was totally masculine and those ruggedly handsome, chiseled features on his still elfin face, refined and aristocratic, yet wild and rebellious, that attracted her. Gosh, those bad boys would be the end of her, if she had it her way. Not only is he deliciously sexy, he's intellectual, wickedly funny and witty, sweet, kind, compassionate, considerate, generous, charismatic, charming…

She could tell all this based on her gut feelings and her gut was telling her 'He's the best, most perfect man alive! Claim him!' Too bad she was vying for a spot in his company…the company in which he'd be her boss. If it wasn't for certain extenuating circumstances, she would have been all over him! …God that was a great smile. Damn, that laugh. He was one fine male specimen. Oh, and he's tall, because God knows, guys just have to be tall…and by tall, she knows he's at least six and a half feet of beautiful hot man. And if it wasn't for her godforsaken powers…

Too bad he was the enemy…

That just puts a downer on any possible relationship.

But then, she realizes, when he sends another sexy smile her way, that she wants to just for once forget that her curse exists. It just makes her want to believe in the world and all the possibilities that could lay at her fingertips…those perfect possibilities with him…

'_Dammit, gal, focus!'_ she thought to herself, desperately trying to stop drooling. Hopefully, she gave off the impression of being attentive and sharp…after all those hours of training from Logan, she had to be…but hey, there was just something undeniably distracting about being in the presence of this man. She took deep breaths and focused on what he was talking about…Ooh…pretty smile.

(I just loved this opening sequence! It was such a blast to write to get back into the swing of things. Yup, our girl is totally fawning over Remy in disguise…let's see what Remy thinks.)

* * *

He's sitting there, in that nice, comfortably easy chair directly adjacent to her and all he can think about is that she is simply the most divine female creature he'd ever laid eyes on. She's pretty…She's got those incredible green eyes that I can just get lost in. They're this amazing shade of emerald, unlike any I've ever seen, because they're so flawless. Okay, so she's absolutely stunning. It was that face, with those full lips that begged to be kissed, her cute nose, those amazing eyes and her smooth alabaster skin that seemed to glow in the dim light. She seemed to be ethereal then. And then there was that hot sexy body that he just wanted to run his hands over all those curves…

Looks were nice, but it didn't help that she was so sassy, funny, sly, cunning, clever, humble, gentle, benevolent, giving, vivacious, captivating, enchanting…She was in short, the perfect woman. Everything in his being was screaming at him 'Take her as your own! Sweep her off her feet! C'mon man!What the hell are you doing! Are you denying a beautiful woman!'

But then…the whole boss-employee relationship that she was trying to get from him would just complicate things…not that complications ever stopped him…but there was that tiny little detail that she was one of those evil mutant killers…and he wasn't exactly most trusting of women…and she just didn't seem to be the bedding type…DAMN!

Besides, it's not like she's got a nice smile or anything…

God, that smile…damn.

That is one hell of a smile. It lights up her face…Man, that's cute, the way her nose sort of scrunches up…It was a smile that made the entire world meaningless and made him want to do things…perfect things…just for her, because then maybe, she'd smile again…

'_Keep it together, LeBeau, it's just a belle femme!'_ he yelled to himself. She was driving him crazy. Never in his 21 years of life had he felt like such a moron in front of a female…well there was that one time…when he was six…but that didn't count…it was Tante Mattie after all…He just hoped that she hadn't noticed his incessant ogling of her. He, after all, had to be on the ball and alert for this. It was an important mission. He was a Master Thief, the youngest ever known, he was perfect. He simply did not fail. He had trained too long and hard to. So instead, he concentrated on her words…Whoa…perfect smile…nice…

* * *

If they had known what had happened in those first few minutes, they would've known that they were falling for each other, fast and hard, but the truth of the matter was that they didn't, it was beyond their comprehension. This was nothing short of fate, call it serendipity if you will, that they met like this. Let it be said that they were meant to be…but life, reality and circumstance has a funny way of intervening and getting in the way of that which should happen.

To all who saw them that day, they could all swear that they knew that they were a couple, discussing some art project. Seemingly they had been together a long time, but in reality, it was mere minutes. It was the undeniable chemistry that they shared. It was brilliant and explosive, like the spontaneous fire of phosphorus and air. Chemistry was what would make them great partners, and not only in espionage. There was a burning passion between them that had suddenly ignited. The feeling was new and foreign to both, not at all understood and it would be some time before it was, in the most lesser of ways.

True, they were disguised, not themselves, but the attraction was palpable, blatantly seen and neither could really deny that. Still, even masked, something lured them into each other. There was a sense of familiarity. Was that because of the meeting of soul mates or something else…perhaps both? Your soul knows its keeper despite appearances or facades. It can sense the underlying, the hidden, the mysterious. Nothing can escape it. Still, for both, at that moment, it was more déjà vu than the joining of souls. But where had they met before? To each the other seemed familiar, yet different and they couldn't put their finger on it.

So they conversed…for many many hours.

* * *

The coffee had long been consumed, the sun was setting, rush hour traffic gridlocked the roads and many customers had come and gone and yet, the conversation had not lulled. It was a thoroughly engaging conversation on art that had spanned all art forms, artists and several hundred years of art history. Opinions, personal journeys, their own art works and edited life stories were exchanged in their time. So it was with great surprise that they realized that their time together had flown by so rapidly.

"Favorite artist with the most tragic end?" asked Remy.

Marie remained silent for a moment, contemplating before responding with, "I'd have to say, Egon Schile."

"Interesting choice, why's that?" he questioned.

"Well, I suppose you could pick other artists with even more tragic ends…but he did die of Spanish influenza heartbroken, since his beloved and pregnant wife had died three days before. Before he dies, he writes this wonderfully hateful letter to his mother, to whom he'd always been at ends with. I mean, his last works were those of his wife, days before he died and so much of his work has this angst ridden disturbed quality, what with those undulating lines. (My Art teacher, Mr. Kinsella, made us to this self portrait based on Schile's styling and he always wanted to see more 'undulating' lines…) The dude was pretty cool and truly ahead of his time, the village he was working in thought his work was considered porn and locked him up for nearly a month in jail for 'showing porn to minors'," she explained.

"That would be Egon Schile alright. He was able to move away from his amazing realism to do some stunning expressionism. Not to mention he was also one cocky, self absorbed, narcissistic son of a bitch, if you don't mind me saying," replied Remy.

"I don't mind and that is only too true," laughed Marie, her eyes crinkling cutely, noticed Remy.

"Favorite 'screw you' pop artist?" asked Marie. Somehow, the job interview had turned into a wonderful friendly conversation getting to know each other…in the world of art, perhaps, but that was still something.

"Jeez, you had to give me a hard one, didn't you?" accused Remy.

"Yup," said Marie happily.

"It'd have to be a toss up between Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg," revealed Remy.

"Interesting mix," commented Marie, "The biggest so-called rule breakers."

"Yeah, you get the seemingly coke influenced interviews with Warhol, Lichtenstein copying the classics and Rauschenberg painting a goat and putting a tire around it, to raise the 'oh no you didn't', 'you can't do that,' and confusion to the art aficionados of the time," clarified Remy.

Marie let out another smile and glanced casually at her watch. Her eyes bulged. She looked again. It wasn't possible, was it? Panicking, she moved her quick gaze throughout the shop and noticed the setting sun. It was.

"What's wrong, Anna?" Remy shot her a concerned look.

"It's past six!" she exclaimed.

"What!" he asked disbelieving until he checked his own watch, "Well, look at that, it is," then amusedly he added, "The time seems to have flown by without us noticing"

"No kidding," said Marie.

"You need to be anywhere?" asked Remy.

"Huh?" asked Marie confused.

"You seem panicked, you need to be anywhere?" he repeated.

"Nah, I'm just surprised that we've been here for four hours," she explained.

Remy chuckled, "Guess we got carried away."

"Yeah, Rob, yeah," agreed Anna.

"I suppose this means the interview has ended," said Remy with a smile.

Marie returned it and answered, "It was over a long time ago."

"That it was," said Remy, nodding his head as she began to put away her lap top, papers and portfolio into her large leather purse. Remy also began putting away his things.

"My subway's gonna be a bitch to catch this time of day," complained Marie as she slipped on her toque, scarf and gloves.

"I'll give you a ride in my car," offered Remy quickly, as he too put on his outerwear to combat the frigid cold of the fall.

"I can take care of myself you know," replied Marie, though with an amused smile.

"True, but I wouldn't want the newest employee of Inspired Designs to vanish mysteriously in some mugging," justified Remy. It would give him time to be with her alone, see where she lived and dig some more dirt.

"Really? I'm hired, just like that?" asked Marie in disbelief.

"Yeah, we're always looking for new talent and it's better to snag you now then have some rival get you. Besides, I'm the manager. What I say goes. The big boss trusts my word and agrees," explained Remy.

"You're sure?" she clarified.

"Absolutely, I know talent when I see it. We'd be happy if you'd come to work for us. Since I was interested in recruiting you, you'll be working under me in one of my design teams. I oversee everything and then the boss okays everything. You'll get your job offer acknowledgment by Monday," explained Remy.

"Okay, cool, but I still can't accept your ride. I mean, I'd feel like I was intruding. Besides, I'm sure you've got better things to do than to drive home university graduates," conveyed Marie.

"Nah, you wouldn't. My day's free, so it'd be my pleasure," said Remy.

"But-" started Marie.

"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, Anna. All my employees know that, you should know that too," told Remy.

"Alright, Rob, if you're sure," replied Marie.

"I am," said Remy confidently as he helped her into her jacket to which she whispered her thanks.

Gathering their things, the pair strolled leisurely out of the coffee shop and into the busy darkened street. Somehow, this autumn night appeared darker, more dangerous and mysterious this night. The street lamps cast pools of golden yellow light on the black world, the only brightness from the overwhelming dark, other than the faint glow of shops, restaurants and the head and tail lights of passing cars through rush hour.

"Aren't you glad I offered you a ride now?" asked Remy as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Ha ha. Just because it's creepishly dark out tonight and teeming with MSF soldiers on the prowl," commented Marie.

"Hey, you never wanna get tied up in the middle of one of those," said Remy.

"Yeah," said Marie. They walked in silence for awhile.

Remy broke it with, "My cars just around the corner."

"Okay," said Marie, following his steps beside him. They turned the corner and he led her to a large, intricate concrete parking garage. They took the elevator up to the third floor using a pass key, before emerging to the level that was filled with many expensive high end cars. Marie had never seen so many nice cars in her life located in one a single room. She was slightly awed to the amusement of Remy. She broke out of her amazement long enough to follow Remy to his car, the ultra sleek, sexy black Ferrari with blood red accents.

"Umm…nice car?" said Marie as she followed him into the parking garage, starring at the Ferrari with high interest. The car was clearly the king of the high end cars. It was obvious to her that it was a custom job and soupped up.

Remy just chuckled.

"Yeah, I've never seen this many nice cars in one room…" she explained.

"I can see that," Remy said with a smirk, looking at her warmly and pressing a button on his car keys, which unlocked the doors to his car with a beeping noise which brought Marie out of her stupor to get into the passenger seat beside Remy.

They sat in silence for a moment and Marie's stomach growled…yup, her liver had run out of glycogen.

"Man, I'm getting hungry," slipped Marie and as soon as she said that, she wished she hadn't, because the most beautiful of male creatures responded.

"Then why don't I take you to dinner, since I kept you here so long. We could continue our conversation," suggested Remy, the words tumbling out before he had any comprehension of them.

Marie balked, internally, she was panicking, but on the outside, she just looked slightly reluctant. On one hand, she could spend more time with the enemy, get to know him better and garner some information on his habits. On the other, she was going out to dinner with the enemy! Screw the fact that he was devilishly handsome, alluring and attractive! The choices tumbled over each other in her head at rapid speeds. She was at indecision. She couldn't fail this mission. Her parents had let her have it. It was her first and they had high hopes for her, and so did she. It would be such valuable intel for her cause. So what could she do?

"I couldn't. I mean, you already bought me coffee, gave me a job and are giving me a ride home," said Marie, her brow crinkling, watching his expression.

"I insist," said Remy.

What was he saying! Okay, so it's just dinner with a beautiful, amazing, enchanting woman. He never left a beautiful woman unturned to him. But she was the enemy! Sure, he could dig for some more intel, find out her habits and know her better. His head was spinning. This was his shoe into working full time for the Resistance. He needed to succeed at this. It meant he would get to work with Logan, the man who got him out from that god forsaken prison, sort of pay him back. It meant that he'd finally get to make a real difference, a big difference in the world. Plus, he just had to get away from New Orleans for awhile. This would prove that he wasn't just a freelancer, that he could really go in one direction and change the tide of the fight.

"Isn't this violating some sort of boss-employee regulation?" asked Marie with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Nah, nothing in there says you can't take someone out to dinner, besides ya gotta keep the workers happy. It's the only way they produce, you know,"

"No wonder your company's so good, you feed, drive and flatter all the employees," commented Marie with a smile.

"So is that a yes?" asked Remy, both hoping that she'd say no and yes at the same time.

Rogue took a deep breath and just let her mouth move, not really thinking of the answer, "Yes." What was she getting herself into?

Remy smiled, curious as to why he felt relieved, it wasn't for the reasons he wished, "Great, I know this awesome Italian place near here." He was truly clinically insane. No Catch 22 about that.

"That sounds great," she said and it would be.

Remy put the key in the ignition and started it up. Guns N' Roses' 'Welcome to the Jungle' blared from the speakers the moment the car roared to life.

"I love this song," she said, a grin lighting up her features.

"Me too," he said with a smirk. Yeah, it would be one hell of game.

With that, he drove the car out of the parking garage with a squeal and a hum of speed, letting his dear lady, Fate, take him where she would. He just didn't know that Fate had taken partnership with Serendipity.

* * *

_The woman's emerald eyes were blazing with fury, so alive and vicious. Her rebellious wavy hair, auburn streaked black with snowy white bangs was tied into a high ponytail with pearly strands framing her face, billowed behind her like a specter. She was in a tightly fitted leather jacket that was sleek and glistening, a cross between a corset and a motorcycle jacket. It had green accenting and piping on it. (Basically, think of one of those leather jackets they had on in the movies, but without the blatantly obvious X) Her slightly loose black cargo pants with many pockets did well to accentuate her long slim legs, and were reminiscent of punk fashion with some of the many zippers, straps, rings and metal dangling from it and had a studded leather belt to hold it up. They were tucked into a pair of large, chunky black leather boots with large buckles and straps, that were a combination of combat and motorcycle boots with thick soles and slightly heeled. Clutched in her short, hunter green, velvet gloved hands was a pair of large silver Desert Eagles, ready to blow his brains out with a single shot, releasing the bullets. It was beautiful. She was in that moment, rage personified. _

"_Who tha fuck are ya!" she hollered, voice threatening violence. _

_The man with the amused, smoldering, ruby onyx eyes just smiled, teasing her. His coppery auburn hair floated around his head like the swirling wind itself. A long, extended, silver Bo-staff was clutched in one of his strangely gloved hands. He wore a form fitting leather coat with red accenting that resembled a motorcycle racing jacket that showed off his defined body, underneath a long, chocolate brown trench coat with straps, buckles and studs on it's leather surface. (Again, think X2 when you think of the coat) He also wore a pair of cargo pants, although his had many pockets with a thick studded leather belt around his waist. Completing his look was a pair of thick motorcycle boots with his pants tucked it. He was unafraid, reckless, as if daring her to shoot. It was amazing. In that moment he was pure, unadulterated defiance made alive. _

_"Why aren't y' just a little rogue, Chere?" he whispered seductively with a smirk. _

_Somewhere, Fate and Serendipity were wetting themselves in blind panic. _

* * *

And so concludes this chapter…Eek! Is Rogue about to shoot Remy? It's a cliffie, I know. It says...no one dies in this chapter...but hey, there's next chapter...I'll leave it up to you to decide whether I'm kidding or just plain evil. This wasn't supposed to end this way. It was supposed to be much longer and include a nice long battle sequence, with everything I promised above…but I got tired and this just took SO long to write and yes, by my standards, it's relatively short. I didn't get writer's block, it was just that I had problems with actually sitting down and typing out the whole thing. It's all in my head, dammit. The last section was just came to me because I really wanted to capture the fighting feel that I had planed and live up to my chapter title, 'Meeting Destiny at Gunpoint.' I hope this lives up and just know that next chapter will explain how the heck things went from 'Let's eat dinner', to 'Let's kill each other.'

**UP NEXT: PART ONE: CHAPTER SIX: HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM**

Once again, please drop a review. They make me happy. My next commitment is to another chappie of AME! Rubs hands…and then, back to this again…where I finally do what I've been planning since summer…sigh.

simba317


	7. Part I: Houston, We Have a Problem

**Disclaimer:** Have you ever just felt violated? Like, that damned bastard just ran off with your work? I have. Maybe Marvel feels that way too every time anyone one of us write one of these fanfics, but I really don't care and hell, our ideas are sometimes damned better than theirs…ie. Just get Remy and Rogue together, please?

**Author's Notes:** I first wrote this chapter on December 26/28th, well started it anyway, so you'll all be wondering what the heck happened to make this delayed so much. Well, the thing is, as some of you know, on January 2nd, 2006, I was robbed in Vancouver when some guy broke into the trunk or our car and stole my backpack and laptop. My laptop contained the incomplete copy of URX-Houston, We Have a Problem, tons of homework that needed to be handed in and just my entire collection of writings from the past year in fanfiction...the stuff that I loaded from my flash drive anyway. All of my stories are in my main computer at home, but I did lose a ton of stuff I did over the holidays and it sucks ass. I also lost all of what I had done for a year in biology, notes, books, assignments, the whole deal, a few English take home exams and my sketchbook, which had some totally amazing works with Rogue and Remy…along with 26 CDs that took me a good six/eight years to collect. So at the end of the day, I was truly pissed off. I felt completely violated. I didn't really care about all the material possessions I lost, some I didn't mention. I cared that I lost my bio notes, some of this chapter, my homework and my SKETCHBOOK. Those things are irreplaceable. I'll never get them back and that just killed me a bit, because I know that whoever stole my stuff doesn't care about the things they stole, it doesn't and won't mean shit to them, hell, it's a schoolbag, you won't make much money on it. They won't appreciate the things I did in biology, that I was reading Macbeth, that I'm a pretty good artist, that I write, that I'm alive for that matter. They just wanted some money and well, I hope you made some off a couple of old textbooks and binders and what not. I also hope that when you were getting away, you hurt yourself or something, because that bag had to be over 30 pounds and yes, I did lug it to school. So for awhile, I felt like this person stole a bit of my soul, because a person defiling my art, to me, is the biggest crime you can ever commit. And I just reached this state of stagnancy where I felt like, I just don't really wanna write right now, because I don't wanna redo all this that I started, but I'm gonna if I'm ever gonna move on, so this is what I'm doing.

But I'm better now, and I'm back. ; ) Oh and please sign the Romy petition, there's a link on my bio.

So I wrote the beginnings of this chapter awhile ago, and I had to admit that I wasn't satisfied with it, while I'm sure that a lot of you, hell most of you, scratch that, all of you, would have loved to read the eight pages I had of Rogue and Remy sitting at dinner's end during dessert, talking about their families, hometowns and stuff and basically lying to each other at the same time, then going to the car and driving like maniacs to Rogue's apartment, then about to board the elevator, it did nothing whatsoever to advance the plot and was basically filler. It was tedious to write and really could've been approached in a different way, because it went into details that I really didn't need to, so it's getting cut out and rewritten into a way that I think really makes things a lot more 'stimulating' for our leads. I'll still have elements of what went on, but I think I've condensed it in a way that works, ie. 'Trapped in an elevator'. I just think this makes much more sense, because I did in the beginning really want to stick to my plans of having Remy and Rogue go through everything I had planned, but now I'm doing it in a way that won't make me bored. I'm not giving too much away am I? LOL!

Okay, and this is also the aforementioned fight chapter, it's like the ultimate showdown between Remy and Rogue. I had quite a few things planed for this chapter, some of which were written in note form on the hard drive of my stolen laptop, but I'll try to remember as much as I can, as I usually take notes on fics as I write, when an idea will strike me. Still, this chapter will explain what the hell went on between going out for dinner and getting ready to kill each other. Rogue and Remy will figure out why on earth they know each other. I'm really dying to do this action sequence. It's killer, to put it mildly and it's all my head…lol. Yeah, and they do find out they're working for the same people, but of course, it gets a tad muddy before then and the working together for the team concept is still up in the air…But since I always write A/Ns before I do the chapter, please note that the chap probably got long so I decided to split the chapter and do the fight next time…I'll start it for sure.

I was really lucky that I forgot to bring all of my handwritten notes to Vancouver that had plans on basically everything I would eventually write. Instead, they didn't get stolen, thank god, and spent the holidays living beside my dead computer…they love it there and I'm glad they stayed.

**Shout Outs:** Thank you to all of you for reviewing as usual, and not even this fic, they lifted me up when I was really feeling down in my little backpack tragedy. I'll be getting to all those responses for AME, and Just Need to Hear Your Voice soon. For this, I'd like to thank Cat, bored247, GothikStrawberry, Nettlez (not used to NMCL, wutzat stand for anyway?), ishie, Realt, and mazdamiatta. You all rocketh.

Here we go, ladies and gents! There any gents out there anyway that read this?

* * *

**PART I: CHAPTER SIX: HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

* * *

**

"SOLID LAND! I'M SAVED! THANK YOU, GOD!" rang out a voice, emerging from a sleek Ferrari, and raising her head and hands to the heavens, as if conversing with God. Well, it was more like bolting away while some guy in a hockey mask prepared to chop you limb from limb…and for that young woman, almost ready to kiss the cracked sidewalk, had it not been for the thousands of squished gum marks, spit stains, garbage, germs, and God knows what else, that guy in the hockey mask was Remy LeBeau, well to her, Rob. Being that this was New York, no one cared and no one stared at the woman shouting to the heavens for all to hear.

A load chuckle was heard as a man too, emerged from the Ferrari, "It wasn't THAT bad, c'mon…you're being melodramatic." Remy had offered to drive her home after dinner and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. It had been an amazing dinner. Just like before, the conversation flowed and some sort of strange connection could be sensed in both of them.

He was the perfect gentleman. He held doors open for her, helped her into her chair, took of her coat and well, she just enjoyed being pampered. It was more than the men, or boys in her life did for her, ever. The food had been excellent and he just couldn't stop but be drawn into her, they had so much in common. It was almost uncanny.

"ME! Melodramatic! You were going to KILL ME in that-that machine of death!" cried Marie indignantly pointing to the pristine looking Ferrari shining innocently in the night, while the amused doorman raised an eyebrow.

"Pfft," Remy snorted indignantly with a casual wave of his hand. She was clearly getting riled up.

"You broke like every speed limit regulation in the book, you blew past any and all red lights," Marie's voice began to raise hysterically, "you almost hit a blind woman crossing the street, you weaved in and out of traffic, you passed when you weren't supposed to pass, (does the double yellow line mean nothing to you?), and you were in the car pooling lane when there wasn't enough people!"

"You done yet?" he asked with a smirk.

"NO!" she exclaimed, more than a little angry.

"Well, you did say you wanted to get home early," said Remy wryly.

Marie made a choking nose, a very pissed off sounding noise, "You're something else."

"You know, you should be grateful that I offered to drive you home," said Remy, "and saved you from having to take the subway where any old loser can come and take your virtue."

"My virtue, I'm sure…" rebutted Marie.

"If I remember correctly, you said that you lived not two miles away from the restaurant. My speedometer reads 12," revealed Rob.

"Whatever, okay? …I was just trying to save you the hassle-" but she was cut off.

"Hey, you're never a hassle Anna," said Rob, with a bright smile throwing an overfriendly arm around her shoulder, trying to be funny.

"You're not funny," she told him, nose scrunched.

"Don't hate me because I'm right," he defended, in a joking manner.

"Uh-huh, right," she said sarcastically.

"You know, I am your boss, and I don't appreciate you talking back," said Remy, with a pondering look on his face.

"You wouldn't," said Marie crossly, knowing exactly what he was implying.

"What if I did?" he said, "It's not like you can do anything about it."

Marie let out a disgusted growl, conceding slight defeat.

"And we both know you enjoyed it," said Remy with a conspirator's smile.

Marie crossed her arms huffily, refusing to concede to him, tilting her head to the side with a questioning look on her face, nose slightly in the air, "Shows what you know," she accused.

"So that wasn't you there shrieking 'Faster, Rob, faster!'" rebuked Remy, affecting her voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, a slight smile, cracking her angry visage, "and I do not sound like that. Don't make me sound like a two bit tramp!"

"Hey, you're the one suggesting that you sound like a tramp," said Remy back to her.

"I resent that," she said.

"Didn't you want to go to your apartment, because frankly, I've had enough of standing on the sidewalk like a pair of jackasses while the entirety of New York watches for entertainment?" suggested Remy.

Marie sighed, "Yeah, I do," then, peeking up at him slowly, bringing up her eyes to his, once again, noting those gorgeous features said unwillingly, "I guess this is goodnight."

He smiled down at her, noting those sweet, innocent eyes and angelic face, "What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you go all the way to your apartment unescorted?"

Marie gave him a mock serious look, "Totally horrible, besides, there could be a gang of drug dealers and thugs all ready and willing to steal my virtue and rob me of my belongings just lurking in the halls of a security camera laced complex." She felt glad to know that their moments together would be extended.

"Indeed," he agreed, with a serious expression and a stiff nod, trying hard not to burst and laugh. He gave up and laughed when Marie laughed at his expression, relieved to know that he'd have a few more minutes with her, and it didn't have anything to do with wanting to know exactly where she lived for reasons of espionage.

And then, she turned with a fleeting smile and led him into her building, flashing her entrance card to the security guard, who let her in and greeted her.

"Good evening, Miss Raven," he said.

"Good evening to you too, Garrett," she responded to the middle aged man.

Remy trailed a few steps behind her to let her cool off, not wanting to provoke anymore of that seething wrath that was just waiting to be unleashed on him, but damn, he just loved infuriating beautiful women and seeing them all flustered.

The pair had entered a decently sized apartment complex, while it wasn't new by any stretch, it was in a good neighborhood, the kind where you can raise kids in without having to deal with the ugly facets of the inner sanctums of New York City. Bricks and limestone blocks lined the building, with what looked like aged marble forming gargoyles of the building. It was built years ago and while the building had definitely seen better days, it was well kept and sung of the golden eras from the olden style architecture that one couldn't help but admire. The tenants, management and owners were well off enough to have security in the building constantly as well as cameras, so it was safe. It wasn't luxurious, but it was affordable, comfortable and clean, as well as being a perfect spot for a young college graduate, since the rent wasn't too steep, surprising, as it was New York.

The lobby was simply decorated in rich leather chairs, some throw blankets and dark colored cushions, with dark wood furniture and porcelain lamps and vases. It was a comfortable meeting place, set of to one side, a fireplace alit, letting the flames cast a warm glow over the room. The other side housed the elevator and the halls leading to apartments on the first floor of the five story building. Remy noted the six exits that were available for him, quickly and easily. His thieving instincts never seemed to leave him.

Marie reluctantly pressed the silver button to call down the elevator, surprised to note that she was disappointed to be leaving his company momentarily, so quickly, even though they'd spent just about the entire day together. Igniting in a bright red, the button lit up and a noise dinged, indicating that the elevator would be arriving shortly.

"You have a nice set up here," commented Remy, noting the features of the building.

"Yeah, I was lucky my parents were willing to spring up half of the rent, so I don't have to attempt live in some little crap hole," she remarked.

A ding announcing the arrival of the elevator interrupted any conversation that would've continued, as the doors slid open.

"Ladies first," Remy said, moving to the side and gesturing for her to enter first.

"Always have to be a gentleman, I see," she commented with a smirk.

"Always," Remy conceded with a wink, as she stepped into the chamber. Marie pressed the button which would lead her to her apartment, the fifth floor.

Turning she watched as Remy caught her eye, then without looking, suavely pressed the button to close the elevator doors, to which the machine responded with a ding and a slide of the doors, "Alone at last."

"Riiight," she responded wryly, raising an eyebrow at his antics.

Suddenly, Marie didn't like the fact that her room was on the top floor. _It's gonna be a LONG elevator ride…_

"Is this the part where you, press the emergency stop button, push me up against the walls of the elevator and proceed to kiss me breathlessly and we give the guards on duty some free porn to watch?" Marie asked sarcastically, secretly panicking inside at the implications of what she just said, knowing she wanted just that deep down and also realizing that she didn't want to oust herself as a mutant to him, not to mention, yes, she wanted to touch him, but no, she didn't want the nasty aftertaste.

Remy laughed, knowing the irony of the situation when he realized he most desired to do just what she had relayed to him in sarcasm. His voice dropped a few octaves, becoming a low, sexy drawl, "Like I said before, Anna, I'm a gentleman." They felt the sudden hitch as the elevator began its slow ascent. _Here we go…_

"Really?" another eyebrow raised.

"Really, or so I've been told," Remy revealed in a deep purr.

"Are you sure whoever told you wasn't lying?" Marie swallowed, her throat suddenly gone dry.

"Positive," he whispered seductively, suddenly aware of how taut and aware of everything he was and how the temperature had risen so much so that the heat was palpable. He could see her swallow, how those gems looked up at him through thickly lashed half closed lids. It was SO damn hot. Her scent was intoxicating, speaking of vanilla and cinnamon. It was sending him into overdrive, as if they were some sort of pheromone, setting him ready to pounce. She was a beautiful creature after all, and it was torture knowing that he couldn't have her, even though her private apartment was just a few steps away. He had honor, hard to believe as it was, and he wouldn't take advantage of her, no matter how much he wanted to and it wasn't just the Employee to Employer relationship that he was trying to maintain.

Marie licked her lips, a sexy action, feeling the heat that seemed to emanate from his body intimately close to hers, invading her personal space. He was too close and she was surprised that she was so relaxed at his closeness and not panicked at all by his presence, as if she were sedated. He looked good, good enough to eat. Marie took in every inch of him, knowing she couldn't play the innocent girl here, not when she desperately wanted to pull his face down and have his mouth crash against hers and knowing the consequences. She wanted to be someone else right then, a normal woman, who was in an elevator with a gorgeous man and could pull him into her apartment alone and experience all that would happen afterwards with him. But she wasn't normal and she couldn't, for more reasons than one, even if she longingly wanted to. Conflict ruled her mind, begging her to give into her desires while rationality held out. Life had never been fair, so why would it start now and for her?

Moments of this uncomfortable, yet delectable silence passed, where they could do nothing but stare at each other. However, just as quickly as the tension started, it ended as the elevator lurched to a standstill and a ding announced that it had arrived on her floor. The doors slid open, releasing their held breaths and allowing the tension to end and release, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. The ride up, that had seemed impossibly long, now seemed too short to both.

Marie broke the gaze first to his eternal disappointment and without a word stepped off the lift, not looking back to see if he was following, leaving him no choice but to concede and follow her as she took a right in the direction of her apartment. The halls were short with few doors and made Remy note immediately that the units were fairly large. Stopping at the door marked 508, Marie delved into her purse to search for her keys, while Remy studied his surroundings, the pale yellowy green walls, framed by deep wood, an ornate table with a draw, bearing a crystal vase of flowers at the end of the hall, dimmed lighting emitting from a few lights mounted on the wall and the doors with the silver numbers against black with a bubble of a peep hole.

Finally fishing out her keys that featured a ridiculous amount of key chains, to which Remy raised an eyebrow, Marie swiveled the keys to the lock and swung the door open.

"Success!" she said with a jazzed up smile and a fist pump. Remy couldn't help but grin, she was SO unbelievably and utterly adorable. Crossing the threshold, and holding the door open, she regarded Remy with a quizzical expression, not knowing how to end the night.

"I'll see you Monday, Anna, nine o' clock sharp, you hear?" Remy said, mock seriously, "You've got the address right?"

"Yeah, I do, and uhh…thanks, for everything, the coffee, the dinner, the ride, escorting me up…" remarked Marie, regarding his features.

"It was my pleasure," answered Remy with a slight bow.

"Good night," whispered Marie, gazing into Remy's eyes, to which Remy stared right back, not sure as to what to make of what he saw there, not knowing how to define what was there, but not having the desire to and not knowing that he had the same expression for Marie to see.

Remy smiled, "Parting is such sweet sorrow. Good night." With that last remark, he gave her a salute, turned 90 degrees clockwise and headed towards the elevator, but not before goofily spinning around to wink at her and give her a parting wave, making her giggle at the absurd antic, before heading on his way again, as if he had never given her that last look.

* * *

As soon as he entered the elevator and the doors closed on him, Remy let out a conflicted sigh and ran his hands through his hair, then down his face. What the hell was he thinking? What was he doing? Yeah, it looked like good cover for his cause, but the real reasons behind what he was doing had nothing to do with the cause and everything to do with the beautiful woman living in Room 508. He'd seen first hand, time and time again, what those bastards did to them. So why was she any different? Why did such a beautiful, attractive, bubbly, friendly, caring person be on their side? It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. 

For the first time, in a long time, he'd felt a genuine connection with a woman that meant something more than getting her to bed. He didn't know why, but a part of him refused to think of Anna in the terms of an enemy, in the terms of a person working for the MSF. He hoped desperately that she didn't harbor anything against him, or mutants in general, that it was just something her father did, that her relatives hadn't turned her before she got a chance to make that decision on her own, come to her own conclusions. Was that too much to ask for?

He suddenly felt lonely, abysmally lonely and knew that this mission or whatever it had become in a few short hours was going to be more difficult that he'd originally thought.

* * *

It was only when Marie was sure that he was in the elevator that she breathed a sigh of relief and bolted her door and reinforcing it too with a few inventions courtesy of the Beast and his little group of elite geeks, as they were so affectionately called. The mechanisms clicked and whirred as they docked to the seams of the door, making it near impossible for anyone to break in if they didn't know how to handle the clever system. 

Marie then moved into the hall, agitated, pulling off her jacket and outerwear in a frustrated manner, barely making it to putting them on their hooks by the door, dropping her large leather purse unceremoniously in the middle of the hall in a huff. What was she going to do? He didn't seem evil, or like he'd have anything to do with the MSF, but then, that's how convoluted the world was and at the moment she hated it, hated herself, because she really had let her guard down. She really shouldn't have let Rob lead her around half of New York on little escapades. Not only would it look bad on her report, sure she could mask it with a little creative wording, but it was still fishy, well at least to her anyway.

Marie resigned herself to sleep. She'd worry about this all in the morning, not wanting to contemplate what had gone on between them and knowing that this mission just took a nosedive.

* * *

You ever get that feeling that you're being watched? You turn to look around your shoulder…and nothing. Nothing suspicious, nothing out of the ordinary. But then, you know, know that things have never been normal and that if you're gut says that something's wrong, then something's wrong. Damn your intuition. 

And that's what Marie felt. She knew she wasn't being paranoid. In this business, it's what keeps you alive, but she had this overwhelming feeling of a presence watching her every move as she walked down the loosely populated sidewalk that morning, the city just waking up after a heady night. Marie watched over her shoulder, scanned the area in front of her, casually peered at the sides, stretched her neck to scrutinize the tall buildings' windows and roofs and across the street. There was nothing, but Marie knew there wax something. Someone was watching her, this she knew and every part of her body tensed, her nerve endings on fire, reading to react, her alertness rising tenfold. The thing was, she had been feeling this sense of dread since the moment she had awakened in the morning.

It was Monday morning, eight thirty-seven am and she was just about a block away from the office for Robert Lord's branch of Inspired Designs, (the headquarters was in a towering skyscraper downtown, but Mr. Lord kindly preferred to have him and his fellow artists not suffer from the fear of heights in having cubicles over a hundred feet in the air) walking because her alias was a recent university graduate and they didn't have the kind of money required for a car to cruise in. She tried to shake the feeling, but it wouldn't pass.

She was greeted kindly by a receptionist in the front of the office when she first entered, a bubbly girl in her twenties with a chic black bob featuring red chunks and cat eye glasses, who sweetly directed her to the back where the studios were and to the second floor where Mr. Lord's private office was located. The reception area was both modern contemporary and richly traditional, but comfortable, featuring funky leather chairs, mixed with antique furniture, vases and some of the prized works from the company. The receptionist's desk area was made of granite table top on top of a deep cherry wood, that was most definitely luxurious.

Once she pushed the aforementioned door to go to the door, she was blown away in sheer awe of the studio space. She stood on top of a balcony or catwalk overlooking the space of Inspired Designs, and it was in fact inspiring. At one time, this must have been a warehouse, but it's back faced the harbor, about a hundred feet below the windows and a floor to ceiling windows had been erected, allowing for an unobstructed view to the world outside, spilling sunlight onto the studio. Blinds could be drawn electronically to combat the sun when it became overbearing. To get to the gigantic floor of the studio space, you had to go down about the distance of three or four floors, but of course, the space between was empty of any floors. It had to be an artist's paradise of studios. A scattered array of cubicles made from movable white walls that were specially made to support paintings walled off individual artist's workplaces in a chaotic fashion, all around the floor space of the studio, but leaving a cul de sac shaped area empty in front of the windows that looked to be a common place for everyone with comfortable sofas and a granite table in the center with coffee and snacks. Apparently he wasn't kidding about free food for the employees. Plant life was scattered around the floor from various places around the world in many different types and blooms. From within the odd shaped cubicles stunning pieces could be seen in the form of paintings, sculptures, drawings, digital art and computer set ups that their owners had decided upon, as well as personal affects. The area beneath her held what looked like an artist's paradise in terms of the enormity of the different types of art supplies, along with the bathrooms and the massive kiln. The walls of the entire open building was aged brick, that had many murals and graffiti that had been added by various artists and the inhabitants here. At the sides of the building were a massive set of garage doors that could be opened to allow pieces to be easily transported, for large sculptures or delivering artwork and supplies. The floors were scuffed hardwood, concrete and layered with rugs in an odd mix of textures and patch work.

On her section of the area above the floor, were stairs on either side of the doors she had just exited from, that led down to the floor with a landing in the middle, as well as an elevator. Since the balcony wrapped around the entire floor she was on, leaving the middle empty, at the far end, was what looked like a quiet loft, with comfortable seating for sketching, contemplation or relaxation, but also provided some workplace for those who wanted as there were a few of the odd shaped cubicles here too. The windows continued here too but tapered off to form a nice shape with the roof, that was still quite a ways off, even if you were in the loft. Marie estimated the building had to be at least seven stories from ceiling to the studio floor.

Directly above her, and the receptionist's area, was Mr. Lord's offices, as well as the higher ups that worked here, and also the computer people that served as a go between or liaison between this office and the headquarters in terms of projects. It provided Mr. Lord with a balcony from the doors of his and the others' office that allowed him to peer upon all of the artists employed at this fabulous location. The offices were designed in such a creative set up that Marie knew that those that resided there were genuine creative souls and artists in all right of the name.

So entering the elevator, that had two sets of doors, Marie emerged into the office area of Inspired Designs to converse with her boss. His office was in the back of the place after a waiting area, and featured a great view of the streets below. It was immaculately decorated in antique furniture and featured more than a few artworks that wrought its way into being furniture like the chair made entirely of wire. Once again, their meeting had been one of ease and friendliness. However, having arrived at about eight fifty at his office, she only entered it when he came a few minutes later, coffee in hand, having just got in, to which Marie didn't know should be suspicious or not. He personally gave her a tour of the facilities, then showed her to her cubicle, which though largely undecorated now, featured a very nice dark wood desk and the latest model of PC to which she was free to decorate in any way she wanted, it was rather spacious and made her feel comfortable immediately. Then, he gave her a few papers, her first assignment and left her to her work, along with a few words of advice. She also further learned that Inspired Designs, did advertising, contract work for public buildings and making names for artists amongst other things. She met her neighbors and many of her fellow artists, all of whom were kind, talented and wonderful. The atmosphere was simply fantastic.

Getting acquainted with the area, she soon decided that she wanted a large, prepped and stretched canvas board as part of the centerpiece she decided she wanted to be part of her piece that was to be an advertisement for some up and coming extreme fashion house. Planning for a few hours in a sketchbook, she decided to do some experimentation on what her painted piece to look like on proper canvas. She decided she wanted a lovely exceeding large painted piece as a backdrop, and she was only more than happy to discover that the supply area simply did not carry canvas that size in her desired size and that she would be required to go to the bookings and ordering department upstairs and place a request to order one in. It perfectly coincided with lunch hour. So she decided to go to booking and ordering immediately to 'show initiative' on the first day, make a good impression, all the while knowing that the ladies in the department had decided to go out for lunch and would not be back until the afternoon, the perfect opportunity to snoop upon her hands.

She entered the department she required, and once she learned of the departure of the women in charge, she 'sadly' resigned herself to taking a seat in their office and waiting for their return. After a manager had kindly lead her to the department and left, she locked the doors and went straight to the personal files of each employee in the firm, but not before using a small computer to scan for any bugs of hidden cameras. More than happy that she was in gloves, she picked open the locked filing cabinet and then leafed through the alphabetical files, under the Ls for personal information on her boss, which was a quick and easy success. Slipping out the paper, she memorized the information such as his birth date, full name, medical information, position, phone number and most importantly his address, before slipping the paper back in it's file and closing the cabinet up, leaving it as if it had never been touched, then she unlocked the doors, took a seat, and waited for the women in the department to return, so she could make her request.

After making her request, she went back to her cubicle to eat her lunch and put down a few more ideas to present for her project, before it was finally time to leave, where she resolved that she'd use tonight to investigate Mr. Lord's home and nighttime habits.

* * *

The night clung to New York this evening, darker and more mysterious than usual, as if knowing it needed to shelter those who reveled and hid in it this night. The waning moon was a poor substitute for light as was the dimmed stars, masked by inky blue purple clouds. Lights of the city did nothing but to cast faint glow spots in the all encompassing darkness like ghostly spirits and the skyscrapers, imposing and reflective in the day, became tainted, drenched in ominous nature, nothing more than dark outlines that could vaguely be seen against the suppressing sky. Yes, it was a perfect time for the shadows. 

It was near midnight, some might say that it was too early for her extracurricular activity, but she wanted to observe his actions, not his sleeping patterns and REM cycles. Marie was dressed in her X-Men uniform, the tight fitted jacket like a corset styled to resemble a motorcycling one with the deep green accenting and piping, those hunter green velvet gloves, that punk fashioned cargo pants and the large chunky black boots. With her studded leather belt were the holsters attached to her thighs that held the pair of high powered sidearms, her Dessert Eagles, the silver glistening in the dark, a gift from her mother and father. Her disguise was gone, that red wig had been discarded for this. It was better for him not to be able to recognize her and a change in hair color would help that. She looked bad and dangerous. She liked that.

Currently, she lay flat on her stomach, with a pair of high tech binoculars and a medium sized backpack beside her, perched on the roof of the building beside the one in which her subject resided in. He lived on the uppermost floor and luckily for her, the building she lay on was taller than his. She had a perfect view into his apartment or pent house suite from the rectangular prism shaped skylight that would cast light into his living space, the dining room, living room and kitchen. His suite took up the entire floor of the protruding West Tower. He had a thing for windows apparently, all the better for her. Was he hiding in plain sight or just plain daring? She had yet to figure that out.

She had climbed to the top of her building's roof, secretly, about a half hour prior, simply scaling the sides, out of sight, from anybody, rather than using the elevator inside as that would cause more trouble than it was worth in disabling cameras. She had a larger chance of being found out if she went inside the building, so she stuck to the exterior, after looking up the security that the building possessed.

Tonight she had come for reconnaissance, scouting out his suite, getting to know the layout and his habits, so that she could come back later when he was out to snoop and bug the premises. So far, there was little of interest. He was behaving as a normal big time boss did; catching up on a few things he hadn't done in the office, signing a few papers, none of them of interest to her cause, and some bookkeeping on the computer in his office space next to the living room. Marie had to say that she liked his set up. It was large and spacious with a great view of the city from the windows or the wraparound balcony. There were doors leading to what she knew were the bedrooms and bathrooms, along with storage and a den that were closed off from her vision perched on the roof. This she knew from the blueprints she hacked from the contractor's mainframe.

The rooms were richly decorated in a mixture of antiques blended with more contemporary items. The chairs in the living room looked absolutely lush and comfortable with its large chairs and sofas facing a large entertainment system, while the kitchen featured granite table tops and dark wood, it was fully stocked, giving Marie the impression that he did know how to cook, or hired someone for the job, and the dining room featured a large carved wooden table with a lovely centerpiece of candles, sculpture, fabric, wire and plants.

Marie was getting bored of the tedious task of watching him do such a boring task, but she had to admit that it was an excuse, to divert her brain from focusing on other things of Mr. Lord's. Luckily, moments later, the handsome man yawned and decided he'd done enough. Turning off his computer and packing away his papers, he then left his desk and went down the hall to what Marie knew to be the door to the master bath room, and unfortunately for her, she couldn't see anything after he entered the room, as the angle she was currently at prohibited it. Torn between privacy and her need to find out more about Mr. Lord, Marie debated her next move. She could move to another roof top, she'd scanned all the databanks on Mr. Lord's and the surrounding buildings' security or she could wait it out, there was a better chance she didn't get caught that way through moving. As she weighed her options, she continued to scan his apartment for any activity just in case.

_Admit it girl, your desire to move doesn't have very much to do with furthering the mission…_

Just as she was about to come to her decision, a deep, melodious, taunting voice whispered a hair's breath away from her ear, tickling her skin with the sensation of warm breath, "Like what you see?"

Marie's breath hitched in surprise. She didn't hear anything. Adrenaline began coursing through her body, causing her to react on instinct, she rolled her body, so that she was now facing her enemy, who was bent at the waist to whisper to her and in the blink of an eye, used her legs and her momentum, to kick him off the roof.

Marie sprang to her feet and stared down the side of the building, looking for the splatter of a body on the sidewalk, rapidly getting more tense as she realized there was none. Preparing her battle stance, she readied herself for anything.

Behind her she heard a laugh, spinning, she saw him, uttering, "Looking for me?" with a condescending smirk, making her blood boil. Oh she would wipe that smile off his face. He must have swung himself up, catching his hands on some part of the roof, twisting back to safe ground. She now knew he was if anything acrobatic, swift, not to mention silent, factors that let her know that he had to have training of some sort, but his skill in battle had yet to be challenged or tested and that's what brought a smile to her face. She loved the battle, a fight to test her physical endurance, show her grace and cunning. It was what she was best at, what made her truly her father's daughter. And that was why at this moment, she didn't much care that her cover was perhaps blown.

She couldn't see him well in the dark, he was too far from her, but she could make out the flapping of his trench coat as it was teased by the wind, the clunking of his boots on the concrete and his tall, lean, yet muscular build. Marie could tell he had a large height advantage on her, due to her height estimation. However, she was undaunted, he'd proven himself to be quiet, but she analyzed that he could be using that to his advantage to avoid fights. So then why provoke her, unless he was confident in his fighting ability? But then, he could have underestimated her and she was more than willing to find out which of her hypotheses were correct.

Bravely, she decided to speak, in her natural voice, so as to throw off suspicion, "What if Ah am?"

Another laugh, he was starting to grate on her nerves and patience. Her eyes narrowed. Casually, the man stepped out of the shadows into the dim light cast by the surrounding buildings, revealing Robert Lord himself, to Marie's mild surprise. This definitely set into motion that he did in fact have ties to the MSF.

"Then you're in trouble, little girl," he remarked condescendingly with more than a hint of darkness, letting Marie see another side of him that she had not bore sight to. If anything, it seemed that he only let those who threatened him see this side, the side that made him appear intimidating, ruthless, and cunning.

Marie decided to make the first move, crossing the distance between them, rapidly, she launched a punch aimed at his face. He blocked it easily with his arm, Marie only smiled, she would enjoy this; he did have some skill after all. Testing his skill, she faked a punch, watching him suck in his gut and move out of the way, while in reality, she launched a kick at his legs, launching him onto his back.

She was undaunted as he placed his hands on either side of his head, pulled his legs towards his face and flipped forward back to his feet with a quirky, "My turn now."

He made a motion to grab her arm, Marie moved out of the way, but couldn't avoid a swift kick, which landed her on her side. Just as he was about to punch her, she rolled out of the way, and grabbed his punching arm, to take him down with her. As he fell to his side, Marie reemerged onto her feet, realizing that she had pulled something off his wrist in his fall, a watch that appeared to have gotten broken in the scuffle, as it was now shooting sparks, wires drawn bare from the casing. Pocketing it, as it could be useful for Beast to study, Marie focused on her enemy, who let out a laugh and slowly rolled to face her, which exposed a pair of crimson and obsidian eyes and coppery auburn hair, instead of grey blue eyes and black hair.

Marie's widened eyes displayed confusion and surprise at what appeared before her, letting her stance becoming slightly lazy. _An…an image inducer? _

His voice changed, "Well, dis certainly makes t'ings interestin'," becoming distinctively Cajun.

He smiled at her look of befuddlement, using her bewilderment to his advantage, looking self assured, not allowing the implications to deter him, "Surprise." It was predatory, sly and smoke of something vicious to come.

_What the hell is going on? _

(Cue music. If possible, I'd listen to Illegal I Song by Velvet Revolver during the fight; it's so perfect for their battle…Oh yeah, and I just have to stop this here…but that song is definitely a great prelude as to what will happen. And for the holsters, think the album art for Velvet Revolver's Contraband with the chick's gun held on her thigh.)

* * *

_I never EVER in my entire life wanted to think about that again. Those times when all I could see were bodies, bodies barely alive, broken and lifeless, but somehow still alive, but hollow; the incarnadine blood everywhere, so much so that I wondered if I could ever wash it off from my hands, because I doubted that all the water in the ocean would ever do the job; the screams of the uttermost agony punctuated like staccato of the grimy tainted walls; an endless array of cages, mercilessly holding us all; the unforgiving knife, the frozen table, the vile concoctions sipped like cocktails overbearing, inducing gag reflexes; their resounding, mocking, taunting laughter ringing through the halls; that smell ingrained in your memory of human carnage, remains, ammonia and that scent of death that wouldn't leave, that was stifling, where all you feel is pain, emotional, mental, physical, spiritual; …and her…It was hell, my absolute and total hell. _

_I couldn't run; I couldn't escape it ever. I felt all the torture their tools left on my body, imprinted forever in those unforgotten scars littered all over my body, more than I already needed. I lived it because I had to, it was my choice. _

_I blocked this out. I couldn't deal with it, the memories, those horrible memories, the nightmares depriving me of the innocence of sleep and the wounds of knowing. I had no peace. So I chose to forget, forget as much as I could, so I could survive, so I could keep on living. _

_But I couldn't forget her and I never tried. _

_She haunts me still with her eyes that begged, begged to die, if only to leave this place, if only to escape, because it was the only way, begging me to please do it for her, because she couldn't do it herself. She had no hope left, no life within those empty eyes. She had been made weak and pathetic by her captors, not by choice, but she was broken. She haunts me now, still, forever. _

_She had hair the color of cinnamon and white, auburn with the marking of an angel, reminding me of that warm safe place, where as I child I'd hide, to wait for the thunder and rain to quietly pass me by. She had eyes greener than a new leaf as the twilight crossed the Earth, eyes that I was sure would look like the richest of emeralds when life returned and porcelain white skin like a China doll you were afraid to break, because that's what she was, a China doll, and you have to be careful, you can't break her because she's much to beautiful and she has to be treasured. She was in the hell with me, then. She was part of it, like I was, I remember her, I remember them cracking the porcelain and casting breaking veins on her body, trying to break her, like that mark forever etched into her hand. _

_She's right in front of me. _

_

* * *

_

_(Little allusion to Macbeth up there, can you spot it? Oh and a little Guns N' Roses 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. I love that song, mostly for that starting riff courtesy of Slash. Amazing.)_

**UP NEXT: PART I: CHAPTER SEVEN: MY PERSONAL WESTLEY **

A little allusion to one of the BEST books of all time, The Princess Bride for being above all else a satire on established archetypes and true love, so I'm sure you'll have some idea of what'll happen, think the ravine and the infamous 'Reunion Scene' and no, I won't gyp you, although, that's one of the reasons why I liked the movie, but for the record, the book's better and lovelier.

I hope you guys are less confused as to what's going on now and even more confused…lol! But fear not, all shall be revealed next chapter, although you do see how it went from dinner to killing each other…lol. I hope this provided you to a few more links as to what is happening. More battles to come. AME is to come next. Look for that soon.

I'm very proud as to how this turned out and well, this just really helped me get back into the groove of writing and doing work, feeling that something was worth it again, if only for that rush. I guess Fanfiction is a good cure for those little tragedies in life, that aren't really tragedies after all.

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

simba317


	8. Part I: My Personal Westley

**Disclaimer:** Hey, Avi, Stan, can you hand me over the rights to the X-Men for my birthday, please? It's on March 17th, I'm lucky, right?

**Author's Notes:** Before I get down to business, I'd like anyone who is curious about X3, to go over to thexversedotcom's community, where you can actually ask questions of Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, writers of X3. They really do answer and I just get SO happy to read the answers to my questions. It's pretty sweet. OMG! Have you seen the trailer? Asides from the lack of Remy, it's actually pretty damn good. Go see it. It's amazing. I SO can't wait for the movie.

You know, this next part, is just totally what I've wanted to write like forever in this little ficlet, so I'm just SO excited. This definitely ups the level of Rogue and Remy interaction. It's gonna be one hell of a battle and hell, there's just something SO fun about mistaken identity and misconceptions. I mean, what exactly they will do once they figure out what's going on. Those flashbacks of course will be explained and their pasts revealed! Oh yeah, and there's some linkage with 'Meeting Destiny at Gunpoint' and 'Houston, We Have a Problem' basically, the standoff and the reveal of Remy being a mutant linked up.

Oh yeah, and the Westley thing, is definitely a clue as to what's going on…ie. "Oh my sweet Westley, what have I done to you now?"

**Shout Outs: **Thanks to ish (sorry about the lackiness of reviews!), Hunza (where are you? I miss you.), bored, Cat, mazda, Gothick, Realt and Sarra for the reviews!

Here we go you guys. The kickass badass part. Enjoy.

* * *

**PART ONE: CHAPTER SEVEN: MY PERSONAL WESTLEY****

* * *

**

"Surprise."

She regarded him confused.

"I hope y're not disappointed in me, but I have never liked destroying somet'in' beautiful." He uttered those words as he pulled out a foot long tubular object from the recesses of his trench coat. Under his grasp, it suddenly expanded, so that it was taller than her.

Remy smiled at her. Somehow this was funny to him. That girl that he had hired to monitor her MSF had turned out to become more than just a pretty face. He should've known really, it seemed that all the girls who he really truly liked ended up being the ones to try and kill him. That was some luck, huh? So she was an agent that much was certain. She was good, but he had a sixth sense when it came to certain things, and he had just known that someone was watching him, so activating a few of his hidden computers from his bedroom and locating some hidden cameras he'd implanted on the side of his building, he'd seen her, watching him. It was flattering and disturbing at the same time, something beautiful, that could have spawned from them had ended in that moment. There was no hope for them to have something now, no matter how charming and sweet she'd been. She was everything he hated, that caused him every scar, every tear, every horror. He wouldn't let her get away.

He came at her, stalking, a dangerous mocking grin dancing on his face, sardonic, speaking of untold violence and what was to come for her, that she couldn't be careful anymore. A demon had been unleashed with all of his wrath and fury directed at her.

Marie eyed him with a calculating gaze, unwilling to give anything away, a grim from marring her lips, confusion apparent in her eyes. This was the enemy, and yet, he was one of her kind, a mutant. She felt violated. How could he? Did he know what _they _did to mutants, to _her?_ Betrayal fell upon her, this traitor to their race, who was on the side of those trying to annihilate them. Was it because he hated being a mutant so much that he'd want to destroy them all? He was everything she stood against, everything she fought to end. He was their pain and suffering and yet, he was one of them. She felt torn, he had been so kind, so compassionate, but no more, especially when she saw that look in his eyes, that look of utter violence and hatred towards her. But still, her anger began to bubble up to the surface and her expression became a cold, icy glare. Her resolve hardened. Questions riddled her mind, but they didn't matter now. The only thing that mattered was kicking his ass, making sure he never betrayed them again.

"There's no beauty here, don't worrah 'bout that, but Ah'm gonna beh tha one walkin' away from heah," she replied acidly.

Remy came up to her, until he was a breath away from her face, smile clinging to his lips, haunting her. He only looked into her eyes, her captivating eyes, and he knew that hers were glued to his as well, as if they were pulled together. Something stirred inside him, a feeling of déjà vu, but he'd think of it later. Leaning into her ear, he began to whisper to her, "Don' y' cry t'night, dere's a heaven above y'…"

(A lyric from the Guns N' Roses song, 'Don't Cry', another one, I know, it's a theme I suppose, but I just love this song by them too. It's incredibly beautiful and angsty, a ballad of sorts, but it could be really sweet and regretful, but also sort of haunting and scary; it's got this sort of undertone of creepiness in it, but still manages to be really hopeful and precious, a perfect Romy song that will be soon featured, I think in full, in AME. I've got a plan for it, ; ).)

Marie flinched; a sacred moment ruined and harshly pushed him away from her personal space, watching in satisfaction as he fell back a few feet from the force.

It was time to end this. She wanted answers and then, he would be void of his usefulness and she would prove herself to her father, her mother, the team and the Resistance.

Before he could catch his balance from her force, she'd recovered and whipped out her shiny silver sidearms, a pair of Dessert Eagles, ready and poised for devastation, his.

Rage was in her stance, her being as she stood there to him. Her hair provided a ghostly, eerie aura to her figure, as it danced like smoke in the wind. Her eyes, her eyes were cold to him, with hatred and a pain in there. Yes, this was personal. Maybe they'd both been fooled, believed in something for a moment, a passing moment that was gone now.

Quietly, he said a silent goodbye to her in his heart, a heart heavy with regret, '_I wanted you to be my angel, so badly. But it's goodbye. Maybe there was a time when we could've had something, but it's too late. Reality is cruel and that'll never change.' _

She didn't know why she seemed to be frozen for a moment. Her heart felt like it was carrying on pointlessly, wanting so badly not to do this. Still she had to, though she wished for closure, '_I don't want any regrets, but for awhile you were letting me fly on your wings and it was beautiful. Maybe there was supposed to be more. But this is life, so goodbye.' _

And then, there was only this hate left, this hate and sorrow.

"Who the fuck are ya?" she hollered and he heard the violence, the threat in the tone, recognized it, but didn't really care.

That damned smile wouldn't leave his face.

"Why aren't y' just a little Rogue, chere?" he whispered huskily to her. It got under her skin in a way none had done before.

She fired a bullet into the dead center of his chest, the heart. It was a perfect bulls eye, she prided herself on her shooting ability. The sound echoed and seemed to magnify in her head, the gun smoking in the aftermath of the shot. Screw questions, let him bleed painfully and then die. Marie never thought of herself to be the type, but the way she felt now, she knew she'd rather let him bleed and question him then.

But before the shot entered his chest, she noticed a red glow encasing the bullet. It exploded before her eyes, by some hidden force unbeknownst to her, spraying shrapnel across the roof. Marie blocked the sharp metal from her face with her arms. She would regret this action later, as it left her off guard and vulnerable to his attack and found herself pinned against the brick wall of a shed on the roof of the building with his Bo-staff.

"No more playin' wit' dose toys, now," he said with a wink. God, what she wouldn't give to let Dad castrate this guy.

Marie rolled her eyes and replied with kneeing him in the groin. He let out a painful groan and moved away from her.

"Dieu! Dat was just dirty, y' got a problem wit' m' or somethin', Chere?" asked Remy mockingly.

"Shut up and fight, ya Swamp Rat!" she ordered as she aimed a punch to his head, which he easily evaded by moving his body out of the way with a speed and skill that she'd hadn't had the luxury of seeing often in training.

"So y' like t' b' de dominant one, don't y'?" he replied, as she threw out a kick to his sternum, to which he easily blocked by grabbing her foot and using it to spin her off balance. Marie recovered quickly by rolling into a cartwheel to counteract the momentum that sent her legs flying over her head.

Marie responded by trying to use the butt of her gun to ram his head in, but once again, he smoothly escaped the attack and decided to test her own skill of defense.

Whirling his staff in a complicated and effective figure eight pattern, he countered her attempt to punch him, the momentum of his hit sending her off balance and falling backwards. She quickly recovered by doing a backwards flip.

And that was when Remy got excited. She had some decent skills. The fists flew, they parried, blocked, kicked, countered, jabbed, uppercutted. It was a dance, a deadly dance, and neither could stop. The moves became more intricate and more powerful, they weren't true partners, but combatants, looking for the upper hand, it was simply a war.

The pair circled each other, Remy with his Bo-staff twirling in a complicated pattern, providing defense and offense at the same time, while Marie had her guns at the ready to fire a shot. Remy made the first move by quickly catching her off guard by using his Bo-staff to bring her feet off the floor, sending her flying forwards. However before she hit the ground, she rolled midair and fired a shot at him, which he narrowly escaped. As they hit the ground, both rolled out to absorb the shock.

Before Remy could pick up his dropped staff, Marie charged him and sent a roundhouse kick his way, towards his head. Remy ducked out of the way and pushed her foot forward to send her spinning. Quickly Marie recovered and planted the foot that had been swung, and using it as a pivot to launch another kick which caught Remy's jaw, sending him back a few feet.

Remy growled slightly, glaring at her menacingly, as he regained his balance, a look of seething anger emanating from his fiery eyes, under a fringy mess off of coppery auburn hair. Oh no, he'd never been taught not to hit girls…His rage surprised Rogue for moment, but it was all Remy needed as he approached her body, ready to dole out the damage. Marie went for a left hook, but Remy caught her arm deftly and swung her painfully around, so that her arm was behind her back, his strength overpowering her. Pain shot up her arm as he held it in the rough position, before pushing her into the ground.

Marie rolled out of the fall to shelter her body and minimize pain, still, she lay seething on the grungy floor of the roof. Remy was about to force an uppercut to her face, but Marie reacted quickly and pulled her knees to her chest, and then using her power to send her legs up and into Remy's stomach, kicking him backwards and allowing her to use the momentum to send her to her feet.

Remy didn't have time to get up before he heard the cocking of a gun and her voice in an angry roar, drifting to his ears, "This ends now. Tell meh who ya work foh, or Ah'll blow out your brains!"

"But I like bein' blown away," he said with an infuriating smirk and a wink and in the blink of an eye, he had kicked the firearm out of her hands and was back on his feet, delivering a painful punch to the side of her face. Remy quickly got his hits in to her stomach, chest and head. She was falling back and the erratic motions of his punches made it hard for her to block in her blearing state of mind. She was open for attack.

Marie needed to think fast. There was this small pause, a beat if you will between the hits, and it was here that she reacted, tucking her head in and leaping off her feet, doing a forward roll into his torso, sending her assailant backwards. She landed straddling him, which gave her the perfect opportunity to pummel him for all the pain that he had given her previously. It was here in this battle that she felt alive. She could feel her blood pumping through her body, the pain from the kicks and punches, the dribble of blood from her nose and a few cuts. Her breathing came in pants as she did damage to his face and body relentlessly.

Still, he was smiling, with his spit lip, blood covered face and disarrayed hair, he'd never looked more beautiful. This was strangely funny to him. Here he was again, throwing himself into another fight, another battle, drawing it out, just so he could feel something, anything. The pain was good. There was only pain, and it was the only thing that made sure he was alive. So he took it, hit after hit of beautiful pain. Pain like the day she revealed herself for who she really was, blonde hair, blue eyes and brown hair, amber eyes, pain from their screams, the blood, the scars, the searing pain from the red glow…oh pain. With blood trailing from his bruised lips, he said to her, "Watch y're head now."

She looked at him quizzically, not understanding, but suddenly, she heard a buzz. Turning her head, she had noticed how the roof tiles of a roof top shed began to glow, right above her. Remy suddenly shoved her aside as he jumped out of the way, no worse for ware only to have her flung against the building about to explode. Marie leapt out of the way quickly as a blast rocked the roof, and suddenly she was on the defense again as Remy returned to her side with his Bo-staff.

Marie crawled to her feet, wearily watching him, with her fisted hands ready to attack. But to her consternation, Remy merely leaned against the wall remaining from the decimated shed in an amused expression. Confused Marie observed his actions carefully. He reached into his chocolate brown trench coat and pulled out some cards, shuffling deftly, mocking her. Marie let her displeasure known in a growl, "Ya gonna fight me, or what?"

Remy merely laughed, "What card y' want?"

Using his experienced fingers, he tossed several glowing cards towards her direction; some flew straight into the air with deadly accuracy, while others whizzed and slide against the floor, ready to take her feet from her. Seeing the deadly explosives, Marie once again had no choice than to jump out of the way.

Cleverly, before the smoke cleared, she had slide off the roof, and hide herself by pressing her worn and battered body against the wall, clinging to safety from the outcrop made to sit a gargoyle, planting her feet against the top of a window.

Marie pulled out a long, thin, silver blade hidden in her jacket. It had white etched on the blade in an intricate design of swirls and leaves with a dark metallic green and black hilt that had the white detail continue. She waited quietly for his steps to lead him to the edge of the roof; they were confident and heavy, bearing no evidence of being battered or in pain. Her breath was silent and bated.

When finally she saw his upper body peering over the edge of the roof, looking for evidence of her body on the sidewalk, she skillfully tossed the blade at him, a smile of success crossing her lips as she heard his gasp of pain, and listened to the noises of him stumbling back. Quickly scrabbling up onto the roof, she was met with a fist which sent her flying and landing on her back hard against the hard concrete of the roof.

Remy stood over her, with her knife protruding from his left shoulder. Pulling it out, he drew blood, "Nice aim y' got," he said. Then, he kicked her hard in the stomach, causing her to roll into a ball to try and protect her vital organs. Remy grabbed her hair, still loosely held up in a ponytail, and roughly picked her up a few feet, then tossed her back to the ground with equal force and violence.

(Looks around shiftily…so yeah…they're getting very violent with each other…but then what do you expect from a beat down…it is Romy, afterall…lol.)

Rogue was furious. She would NOT lose to him. She simply couldn't. He was a pariah and she would make sure he paid the consequences for his indiscretions. The impact from his toss made her roll after impact and on weary feet, she stumbled into a ready position, refusing to give up. This wasn't just about impressing her father and mother and getting into the Resistance as a real member to really make a difference. It was about stopping this bastard, this heinous traitor. Rage powered her. Kurt had always said that she worked best angry, and she was purely infuriated. Marie glared up at him, undaunted, refusing to back off. Her breathing came out in pants and she was sure that she looked less than desirable with her dirty, bloody and bruised body, but she didn't care.

Remy saw her back up again, well, he had to give her some credit, the MSF were pesky bastards after all. She really hated them, him, that much and for what? But he was done playing the question game, the truth was, there was only this now and the damage control. Well, one less MSF agent was one less MSF agent. No matter how insignificant that was, he'll feel better knowing that there was one less of them for his people to worry about. One less person to hurt them all, again, so he simply couldn't let her go for she was representative of everything that had given him pain in life, the source of every difficulty, every tear, every hurt, every betrayal, every blow. She was it. He had wanted to impress Logan, the man responsible for him getting some happiness, the man who gave him, above all else, hope and show him that he was ready, committed to be part of his new group to really make a difference for their kind. He no longer wanted to be a moonlighter; he wanted to be the full deal.

So she stood in the way…whatever. He didn't care anymore. He didn't care that she was a pretty decent opponent, that she'd drawn blood from him, that there was an undeniable pain throbbing in his shoulder. All he knew was that only one of them would walk away from this and it would be him. Not her, he'd make sure of that.

She looked tired and battered, exhausted even, but still, she charged him, with a new ferocity, a new energy. Her actions, seeping with Rage did not go unnoticed by him. It fueled her, made her a better fighter, enabling her to get the first hit into his jaw. In retaliation, he turned his body and elbowed her in the stomach, then, parried the kick she tried to utilize against him. She was using the close range fighting to her advantage, knowing that he couldn't use his explosives without hurting himself as well. It was a rapid succession of various moves and combos punctuated by shouts, and yells of momentary victory, anger, frustration and pain, move after move, hit after hit, block after block, parry after parry. No ground was won and even less was lost. It was a beautiful, albeit deadly dance. One false move and it'd be over for someone, but that couldn't take way from the grace, the passion or the luster of it.

Remy knew that this was going nowhere, it was just tiring him out, he had to make a move, and he knew exactly what had to be done. He was tired of playing games. It was time for a new kind of fun. Waiting for the opportune moment, he let her get a few punches in, and finally seeing an exposed part of her body, he went in for the kill, a deadly spin kick, right into her stomach, then, using his momentum, he backflipped away from her. Before she could land and recover from her imminent fall, he wrapped his fingers around a few cards and tossed them her way with a red glow as a gift. Noticing the Ace of Spades that accompanied the cards, he smiled. Yes, it would be the death of something all right.

Spotting his extended silver Bo-staff glinting in the light of the night, he retrieved it, listening to the symphonic sound of an explosion behind him. Stretching upright, he broke out in a dead run, staff at the ready, trench coat flying behind. He didn't stop when the edge of the roof approached, nor did he hesitate. At the precise moment, he planted his staff into the edge of the roof and used it to propel him over, like a pole vaulter.

By the time the smoke cleared enough for her vision, all Marie could see was the ends of Remy's trench coat sailing in the wind. Gathering herself, she got up on her sore body and hobbled to the edge of the roof, where she saw him land on the top level of a concrete parking complex, across the street and about ten to twenty floors below her. Even from the distance, she could make out his red on black eyes, winking at her, glowing in the darkness, and his hand, outstretched in a wave, a challenge. Well, he was in for a surprise if he thought she gave up that easy. Challenge accepted.

Marie stalked over to her backpack, laying a little worn, looking a bit discarded, and removed from it, a special looking black and silver gun, with a grappling hook at the mouth. Taking aim, she shot the gun perfectly, allowing the grappling hook to become lodged on the lip of the roof. She smiled, she was good. Pulling her line, she made sure that it was secure, before using specialized stakes to lodge the gun into the roof she was currently on.

She retrieved her guns from the ground, securing them on her holsters and then took, what looked like a bent bar from her back pack. Strapping on her backpack, she prepared to cross the roof. Placing the bar on the line, she snapped it into place and securing her grip, Marie leapt off the roof and slid across the street in between the two buildings, gathering speed. Just before she reached the building, she pitched her feet forward to absorb the shock, and silently climbed onto the uppermost level of the parking garage.

Marie eyed every crevice of the roof, carefully keeping an eye out for Remy while at the same time making sure to stay hidden. Not seeing any movement, or any evidence of the Cajun, she discreetly wandered, partially hidden, around the parked cars, looking for any sign of Remy. Making it finally to the ramp that lead to the next floor, she looked down it and saw a blur of movement, a brown streak, followed by a glowing card. Rogue ducked the card, and then leapt down to the ramp onto the next level, landing in a crouched position. She drew her guns and then cocked them at the ready, spotting yet another brown blur from the corner of her eye, so she simply reacted and fired a shot in that direction, it resulted in the hollow clang of the bullet hitting the concrete in the columns and leaving a large dent.

Another red card whizzed by her head, and Rogue leapt out of the way, diving to the right and rolling out of it, behind a large black hummer. _'Well, at least these 'Pimp Cars' are good for something.'_ And now, all was silent, there was just the sizzling of the remains of the card and the few parked cars. Marie silenced her breathing, hoping that she could remain hidden, but also knowing that she was a sitting duck. He was playing a game with her and all she could do was make sure she stayed on top of it.

Sure enough, a few moments later, a card drifted over the roof and floated down into her lap, before erupting into a bright glow. Marie reacted quickly, leaping from her crouched position and away from the car, but also exposing her from the barrier of the car.

Remy used this to his advantage, and while she was in midair he charged another card and hurled it in her direction. The blast changed the direction of her fall and completely disorientated Marie. She couldn't roll out of her fall or plan it, so it was no surprise to her when she landed hard on the asphalt, hard. An intense pain shot up her arm, making her cry out. Rolling onto her back, she inspected her arm, it looked fine for the most part, but she could definitely feel a break in the bone. Great.

Still, Remy would not let up, he kept on sending charged cards her way, and Marie was tired of playing jump and dodge. A large plume of dust and cloud from the explosions began to separate her from Remy's view and she used that to her advantage by running over to a large blue Toyota Sienna mini van, the true car for all soccer moms, as evident by the bag of diapers, soccer balls, stuffed animals, knick knacks hanging off the rear view mirror, jackets, snacks and other motherly paraphernalia.

Pulling out a special tool from her belt, she quietly picked the lock to the van in a crouched position, while Remy continued to cause explosions in and around the area she had just escaped from. Succeeding in opening the car door, Marie quietly entered the mini van and threw her back pack into the passenger seat, shutting the door just as another explosion rocked the complex. God, this guy was insane, it was like he had an explosives fetish…Could he honestly be anymore discreet…

Ducking down to avoid being seen, she began to hotwire the car using her one good arm, which was quite a feat in itself. When the car roared to life, a wide grin lit up her face. This would be fun. She put the car into reverse and drove into the direction of where the explosions were originating with and was met with a jackpot, Remy's totally shocked expression as she began to try and run him over with the minivan. He turn tailed and ran and using her maneuvering ability, Remy was never far from being run over. The only thing that saved him were the tight corners and the fact that she only had one arm to work with. Heading towards the ramp, he leapt into the next floor, but Marie wasn't far behind in her soccer mobile, a crucifix rocking back and forth from the rear view mirror…

(Couldn't resist that…a lot of people were commenting on how Mr. and Mrs. Smith this fic was…but the thing was, up until about last week, I had never seen that movie…but now that I did, you can say that there's quite a bit of influence in this fic from that movie for this chapter…the van, the gliding across roofs, parts of the fights, Remy trying to blow her up…lol. Some of it was more intentional, other things just were a bit coincidental…like how I wanted a soccer mom van for the pure irony…)

Knowing he couldn't continue running, Remy made a few decisive choices, he charged a yellow speed bump and to his joy, Marie drove right over it, having not enough time to avoid it and when the back wheels drove over it, he let it explode, sending the car, partially into the air. As the car landed, heavy on the front, rocking her forward, Marie instinctively swerved to the left, right into a side column, so she swerved again, her last move in the car, as the back wheels had been blown out and she was left with her left headlight crunched against an adjacent wall. Remy took the opportunity to run up to the hood and smile at her, before placing his palms on the hood. An eerie red glow began to emanate from the hood, making Marie's eyes go wide in panic.

Quickly using her gun, Marie shot open the window to the right passenger seat, the glass shattering, and grabbing her backpack stumbled towards the exit and leapt out moments before the entire car exploded. She rolled to absorb the shock, pain shooting up her arm, from it. Before she could get up again, Remy was above her, Bo-staff in hand, ready to put in the final strike.

Seeing this, Marie whipped out her gun with her good hand, prepared to shoot, but Remy was ready for her and swiped it out of her hand with his staff. It clanked to the side, but she rolled out of the way, before he could strike again and stood up. She knew this was it. She was injured and at the rate this was going, it would never end, so there was only one way. Using her mouth and teeth, Marie pulled the green velvet glove from her right hand, her good hand and approached Remy, who was ready to pummel her again.

He got in a punch to her chest, but that was his last attack. Twirling from the impact, Marie reached out in the direction of his exposed face. She hated doing this, to anyone, but it was the only way she could see to win and she had to, too much was at stake. This was the only way now.

Just before her fingers could touch his face, and bless her with the few moments of the touch of skin, his arm shot out and grabbed her forearm, before she could reach their desired location. Her eyes were on his face, his eyes, and watched as they widened, in shock, wonder, surprise, awe, epiphany and…recognition, as he noticed a single mark on the perfect porcelain skin of her hand, a diagonal slash across the back, the mark given to all prisoners from Delamort, the most notorious and efficient mutant death camp, from their human captors, a mark on his own hand also. His grip loosened and it was all she needed, her fingers descended on his cheek, but not before he uttered a single word, "…Marie…"

The word shocked her, and she only held on for a second, but it was all she needed and he slumped to the ground unconscious. His last moments spent looking into the eyes he thought he'd never see again. She stared at him, shocked. It really was him…after so long. They were her last thoughts before their memories bleed together and she remembered.

(There ya have it, 10+ pages of Remy on Rogue/ Rogue on Remy action…lol.)

* * *

_It was dark, it'd been dark for her for a long time now, but it had never been like this before. It had never been so palpable and endless, it had never been this painful and sharp, it had never punished and violated her like this before…_

_My mind was a prison, but never like this, never so cold, and never so real, like this, where the walls were black, but stained sticky with blood, the chains that bound me were grimy and unbreakable, remnants of the previous occupants still there. My body was rubbed raw with pain and the dirt. I could hear every cry of torture and pain. I could see everyone waiting for death, wanting death. I was one of them. I could see bodies and endless cages like mine. I remembered my time more than a decade before in one of these places, but it was nothing compared to this hell I was shoved in. Nothing could compare to this. This was far worse. _

_Everyday, I woke up and I wished to die, I desperately wanted and needed to. It was the only way I knew to escape from it all. It was the only way that was possible to escape and I wanted to escape more than anything. There was nothing worse than this, not even my powers. I couldn't deal with this, I had no hope left. My brother, my mother, my father, my siblings, my family meant nothing to me now. I was sorry to do this to them, but I couldn't be here anymore. I had nothing left. Death had never looked so good. He had never been more of a friend to me than then. I wanted to leave and never come back, especially when all that waited for me in life was this. I wanted nothing to do with this anymore, nothing at all…but then he came. _

_He saved me, took me away from all this. I had more to say to him than to anyone on the Earth, but all I ever knew was his name, Remy LeBeau, and those enchanting red on black eyes that saw through me, smoldering and knowing me, understanding me like no one else ever did. He never told me anything more than this, a promise, "I will get you out of here, you'll see the world again, and it'll be beautiful." _

_Remy told me that when I woke up to see him one night. It was dark like never before, but I could tell that he was something special and that above all else, I could trust him. He was beaten, thin, starving really, scarred, bloody and tormented, but behind all that, he was beautiful. He was a kind soul who was unfortunately wrapped in darkness, and once that happens, you can never escape from it. He had tried, but now he embraced it. Still, he would forever be my savior. _

_He broke open my cage with his powers; he had somehow broken free from the power suppressant collars. After promising to save me and I'll always wonder why he chose me to rescue when there were a hundreds of countless others that deserved to be saved more than I did. He promised the others that he'd come back, though. Scooping me up into his arms, I was aware of how strong he was despite all his surface injury, like he reveled in it. I was so weak at this point, I could barely stand. _

_Remy took me through the darkened corridors in the less trafficked areas, quietly, carefully weaving around, but always knowing where he was going. And I knew that he had done this before, he had been down these paths before. I was so weak, I was barely aware, but I remember that we were headed down and that I was surprised that no alarm had been sounded and that no one knew he was taking me away. _

_Eventually, we made it down to a series of tunnels under the death camp, filled with water and blood that had been washed down. It disturbed me, but not him, he'd seen it enough times. We followed the tunnels for what seemed like hours underneath the camp underneath our enemies, covered deep with the water. Still, he carried me, never letting me down or resting. From that point on, I knew that I'd be okay. He would keep me safe._

_Finally, we made it to the end of the tunnels, where the water spilled into a lake, and miles away from the death camps in the woods with trees surrounding the entire area. Squinting in the darkness, I could just make out where the death camp was, it was a large black complex hundreds of meters high in the middle of the forest with many thick walls protecting it with many traps as well as a heavy duty electrical charge. _

_Before he handed me off to a few men like me, hidden in the shadows, he said goodbye to me and to live life for all those who'll never have a chance to, to keep fighting, to never give up, again. I promised, and asked him his name, he told me, Remy LeBeau. I asked him, why it was me he chose, and I'll always remember how he smiled at me, like I was something ethereal and to be worshipped and told me, because you bring light to this world, we need more of that, that he needed more of that. He said that he couldn't forget me no matter how hard he tried and when he asked, I told him my name. I thanked him, I couldn't do anything else. _

_Then, he handed me off to his friends and went back from whence he came, determined and proud. His friends told me that he was a jailbreaker, one of the brave few who willingly submit themselves to capture, so that they could rescue their fellow inmates from the inside. It often resulted in strenuous torture for them to endure…and I knew I was eternally grateful to him, Remy LeBeau, a man who I'd never forget, even if he was little more than a boy back then too. _

_But I couldn't handle these memories, of pain, with the salvation coming only at the end, a little too late, so my mind did it's best to black out most of the memories, fading them, so they only became flashes, ghosts in my mind…and so, in a way, I did forget him, but I could never fully do so, even if I thought I'd never see him again...that is, until now…and I never though it'd be like this…_

_

* * *

_

Marie gasped and stepped back, her eyes roaming over Remy's face. She didn't know why it had taken her this long to realize it was him, her savior. She was in panic. How could this have happened? Why was this happening? She began to pace back and forth in shock and surprise, shaking.

Minutes later, but to her an eternity, Remy began to stir, a moan from his lips.

"Damn, Chere, didn't know y're touch was dat powerful…" a small grin on his lips, "Hey…Marie…" She had changed a bit, gotten taller, fuller, and not just from the lack of starvation. Her hair was longer and dyed with black streaks, but she had also become stronger than he could ever imagine. Still, he was sure she had become even more devastatingly beautiful and angelic.

"…Remy…" she whispered. He had changed a bit, becoming just a bit taller, muscular…and impossibly more handsome, but darker, more pained and tormented too. And then the next thing she knew, she was in his arms and tears were streaming down her face, and he was holding her tight, stroking her hair, overwhelmed by their shared past memories, past fears, past pain…

* * *

I hoped you liked that…so yup, it's all revealed nicely and how they know each other and what not. It's really inspired by William Goldman's The Princess Bride. I just love the middle of the book with all the action and Buttercup finally finding Westley again…and sort of the circumstances that happened in. I hoped you all enjoyed the action. It was really fun to write! The chappie's a tad short…but I just wanted to end it like this…The next chapter will deal with the aftermath of it all and the implications of their little set up by Marie's parents and just how fun serendipity and revenge can be…lol.

**UP NEXT: PART ONE: CHAPTER EIGHT: REVENGE IS SUPERIOR FUN**

My birthday is this Friday, yes, St. Patrick's Day…so please be kind and review…I'll probably get the next one for AME out during Spring Break…I'm gonna make me b-day month hopefully a three chapter update event! My gosh and SO many milestones…AME just turned one year old, my one year of being on ffdotnet as a writer…wow…

Alas, unfortunately, this is where I leave you…

Send me a review please!

simba317


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